The bull selling season kicked off on Tuesday with the first sale of the year, the Nutrien Livestock Great Southern Blue Ribbon Female and All Breeds Bull Sale at Mt Barker.
There was good demand throughout the sale and buyers weren't afraid to bid up on the bulls which met their selection criteria despite the current position of the cattle market.
In the bull sale prices hit a high of $14,500 for a Black Simmental bull from Kevin and Janice Hard's Naracoopa stud, Denmark.
The polled black bull, Naracoopa Trusty T033 (P) (B) by Woonallee Moonshine was purchased by a return Esperance buyer operating on AuctionsPlus.
The next best price was $10,500 twice for two traditional Simmental bulls from the Naracoopa stud, which sold to R & R Thornton, Denmark and Wells & Dufall, Denmark.
The best price outside the Simmental breed was $10,000 for a Charolais bull from the Giles family, Quicksilver stud, Newdegate, when it sold to the Liberty stud, Toodyay.
All up in the sale, 56 bulls were offered and 44 sold for an average $6364, which was down $1568 on last year's result.
In the breeders' sale, prices followed the trend of other female sales this season and were back compared to the highs of the previous years.
Prices topped at $2850 for a pen of eight PTIC Angus heifers from Lindsay and Shirley McDougall, LJ & SM McDougall, Denmark.
The 24-month-old Coonamble and Koojan Hills Angus blood heifers, which were PTIC to low birthweight Koojan Hills Angus bulls and due to calve from February 22 to May 10, were purchased by Norwood Ridge Pty Ltd, Albany.
The second top price in the PTIC heifer run was $2800 for another pen of eight Angus heifers from the McDougalls which sold to Old Penny Holdings, Boddington.
When it came to the offering of PTIC cows, prices topped at $1350 three times.
Rayview Park, Albany, sold a pen of eight and a pen of nine mature age Chargrey cows at $1350 to a Wheatbelt producer which operated on AuctionsPlus while GH, KL & DA Williams, Denmark, sold a pen of five six to seven-year-old Charolais cows also at $1350.
All up 772 breeders sold from 807 offered for an average of $1463, which was back $1455 on last year's result.
Broken down 406 PTIC heifers sold from 441 offered for an average of $1869, while 335 PTIC cows were offered and sold for an average of $1106 and 31 unmated Angus-Friesian heifers were offered and sold at an average of $687.
