LOCAL support was the key highlight at the Tivoli Angus bull sale held on Thursday at Merriwa Showgrounds by Annie and Hugh Kraefft.
Despite the windy and dusty conditions the stands were full of keen buyers.
There were 33 bulls offered with 32 sold at auction, with the last bull believed to be sold shortly after.
Four bulls topped the sale at $6000 with a sale average for the bulls of $4562.
Also offered on the day were Wattletop Stud heifers of which three of the nine offered sold, averaging $2000.
Four lots of 10 heifers were also for sale and three of these lots sold to an average of $1000.
Kim Hunt, Merriwa, a commercial producer was one of the top buyers of the day. He has purchased bulls from the stud over the past two years.
"I liked his shape and his recommendation as a heifer bull." he said
"We find that the bulls are quiet and its great that they are local.
"We will join him to 25 heifers."
Return buyer, Nathan Telfer, Merriwa, a commercial breeder who was looking for quality also purchased a top priced bull with his father, Robert and son Riley.
"We have three generations buying here today." he said.
"This bull has character and frame. He is very eye catching."
Volume purchaser was Jack Stanton, GJ Kennedy and Co, Macksville.
"My aim is to breed better cattle back on the coast." he said.
"We purchased three bulls & 50 heifers last year and they acclimatised well.
"The opportunity came up to come back and we were happy to do so.
They purchased five bulls and 20 heifers at this sale.
"We are taking these cattle back to a number of vendors from our area.
"I like the temperament and blood lines,
"A lot of effort goes into these lines and they do a great job."
Hugh Kraefft was very happy with the result, even with the wild, windy conditions.
"We are very happy with the way the bulls presented and all the help that we have received." he said.
"The heifers sold well, we got a couple of the Wattletop heifers.
"We are currently improving our stud with embryos from KO and Millah Murrah Angus and a few other studs.
"Our aim is to breed an animal that does well in the Hunter region with the local hilly and rocky conditions.
"The money is in breeding fertile females and getting calves on the ground. We are very happy with the way the program is going."
"We are very happy with the support from our local buyers and the others who have traveled.
"There were a number of new purchasers and return buyers.
The sale was conducted by agents Buffier Livestock and Paul Dooley controlled the bids.
