THE Carenda Angus stud once again opted for the Helmsman style auction at its second on-property bull sale run by Elders at Katanning last week.
The stud offered 26 Angus bulls and 28 Angus yearling heifers, which were split into seven pens of four where prices topped at $6500 for a bull.
The auction commenced at 1pm and went for 20 minutes - during that time bidders had the opportunity to bid on as many bulls and or heifers as they wanted and were able to reassess the lots before placing a bid.
After the final sound of the timer the seven registered bidders helped to clear seven bulls and two pens of heifers.
Stud principal Matt Kitchen knew it was going to be a tough sale as a result of the challenging season.
"We would have liked to have sold more, but we are happy with how it went considering the season," Mr Kitchen said.
"We were really happy with our presentation of the bulls and would like to thank all our returning and new buyers for their support, it was really appreciated."
The sale topped at $6500, which was $500 more than last year's top of $6000 and was paid by FG & LV Venables, Yarloop.
It was the Carenda Playa P46 bull in lot one that caught bidders' eyes, pushing prices up to the sale top.
The bull weighed 822 kilograms and had EBV figures of +2.4 IMF, +4 EMA and 200, 400 and 600-day weights of +50, +88 and +117.
Playa P46 is by Carenda Prophet M9.
Mr Venables, who was a return buyer to the stud having bought from it years ago at the Supreme Bull Sale at Brunswick, said he was impressed by the bull's physical characteristics.
"He was just an all-round good package," Mr Venables said.
Mr Venables will add the bull to his current program consisting of 220 Angus breeders.
Pinjarra-based operation Bancell Falls was the volume buyer of the sale purchasing three bulls at $4000 each.
Elders Bridgetown and Tonebridge Grazing, Kojonup secured one bull each for $4000.
In the heifer section TS Dawson & Co, Dumbleyung, purchased two pens of heifers (eight head in total) for $1200 a head.
Elders Katanning representative Russell McKay said the sale went well considering the difficulty of the past two seasons.
"It was good to sell the bulls and heifers that we did and to reach a top of $6500," Mr McKay said.
"All of the cattle were presented very well and were in good paddock condition."
Mr McKay has a positive outlook for the future of the sale.
"Having moved from Brunswick to an on-property sale, it has been better for the animals and now it's just about continuing to build the sale," Mr McKay said.
