Weeran Angus' $24,000 bull shows the demand for calving-ease genetics
A western Victorian Angus stud has bounced back from dry conditions to record a near total clearance and $24,000 top price.
Weeran Angus stud, Byaduk, sold 62 of the 68 bulls it offered for an average of $11,274.
The stud easily exceeded last year's top price of $16,000, when two bulls were knocked down for $16,000.
Weeran stud principal Alec Moore said there'd been a marked change in conditions in the south-west from a year ago.
"In south-west Victoria, we've been blessed with an outstanding autumn break and mild, relatively dry winter, delivering exceptional pasture growth and excellent calving and lambing weather," Mr Moore said.
He said a highlight of the sale was the strength of the Weeran home-bred sires, with many of them being first-calf heifer matings.
"With the adoption of genomics, all heifers are now multi-sire joined to our yearling herd stud bulls," he said.
"Outstanding performance and phenotype were demonstrated by this natural mating initiative.
"One of the commercial justifications for this is the speed of conception, with 84 per cent of heifers in calf within five weeks."
David and Marg Pevitt, Warrong, who have bought bulls from Weeran for the past eight years, picked up the top-priced sire.
The top bull, Lot 2, Weeran Vatican VHW24V241, an August 2024-drop bull, was sired by Weeran T127 and out of Weeran S362.
He had a birth weight of 2.7 kilograms, a 200-day weight of 54kg, 400-day weight of 102kg and 600-day weight of 142kg.
His estimated breeding value for eye muscle area was 7 square centimetres, while he had a rib fat measurement of 1.3 millimetres and a p8 measurement of -0.7mm.
His retail beef yield was measured at 0.2 per cent, while his intramuscular fat was 3.7pc.
Mr Moore said the bull was an "outstanding" calving-ease son.
"He has excellent phenotype and displays fantastic capacity and body length," he said.
"Vatican is an impeccable structured bull, with excellent docility."
Ms Pevitt said the bull would be ideal for the couple's bullock production system.
She said he would be used over heifers first, then run with a mob of cows.
"He has a busy schedule ahead of him, he's not aware of it, but I hope he enjoys his work," she said.
"He is going to produce growth, he has good bone about him, he will be an asset to us."
She said they intended to keep some of his females.
"Weeran are a terrific crew and they produce stock that are easy to handle," she said.
"We are getting on in years and it's important to have stock that don't chase you around the place.
"They've got quicker and we have got slower."
Mr Moore said the strength of the sale was highlighted by the stud's battery of reference sires.
He said two sons of Weeran Thriler T127 averaged $18,000, progeny of Weeran Tortilla T231 averaged $15,000, Weeran TBone T705 averaged $14,500 and four sons of Weeran Trent T123 averaged $13,500.
Hart Network two sons averaged $14,500, Landfall Mainland averaged $14,000 for two sons, with Witherswood Bronc also averaging $14,000 for two sons.
The second top-priced bull was Lot 60, Weeran Wellington VHW25W20, which made $19,000, purchased by a long-standing client, The Hummocks, Cavendish.
Volume buyers included Nareen Station and Mepungah Pastoral, each purchasing 10 bulls.
Capital Livestock and Property agent Brady Hicks, Hamilton, said the sale attracted both repeat and new buyers.
Mr Hicks said most bulls went to local producers, with a handful going interstate to South Australia and NSW.
"There are a fair few farmers looking to buy a few more breeders as well, which in turn, gives confidence in the bull job as well," he said.
"To get the result they did shows the confidence in the cattle job, which is good."
