COMMERCIAL beef producers from the Western District and South Australia's South East provided the mainstay of competition at Coolana Angus stud's annual production sale near Chatsworth last week.
From an offering of 43 bulls, 37 sold at an average of $3567.
The mood of the sale was subdued, with mostly serious buyers in attendance, looking for one or two bulls to suit their commercial operations.
The $6500 top-priced bull, an Ardrosssan Connection X15 son, was bought by Bundoora at Mortlake.
Weighing 696kg, the 18-month-old bull boasted moderate figures for birthweight and a CAAB/Long-fed index of +$106, well above the breed average of +$86.
A notable trend was the strength of sales to South Australian clients, with about half the offering heading across the border.
Last month the stud held its inaugural South Australian bull sale at Padthaway, which cleared 40 bulls for an average of $3300.
Stud co-principal Mark Gubbins said he was pleased with the sale.
"We just didn't know what to expect, I am pleased how it ended up though - we would have liked a complete clearance," Mr Gubbins said.
Last autumn 50 bulls sold from 68 offered, for an average of $3240.
In 2008, the stud cleared 71 bulls from an offering of 90, for an average of $3390.
This year's major buyers included Dan Jones, the livestock manager of Kangaringa Station, at Keith in South Australia, which is owned by Virginia potato grower Barry Farmer.
Mr Jones purchased six bulls for an average of $2900. At last month's Padthaway sale he put together a draft of four bulls.
