There were some great buying opportunities at Raven Limousin’s third annual bull sale at Naracoorte on Thursday last week.

Competition on the top end was strong, but the sale ran out of steam midway through the catalogue. A big influence was lower cow herd numbers across the Upper South East.

In the breakdown, Jason and Penny Schulz from Field sold 12 of 15 purebreds averaging $5708, but demand was limited for the 17 Lim-Flex (Limousin-Angus) with six sold, averaging $4667.

Two well-muscled poll black Limousins topped the sale at $9000 each, bought by Landmark Naracoorte’s David Heinrich on behalf of SA&HI Mumford, Kingscote.

One of the top bulls, Raven King William was a June 2014 drop son of WZRK Doublewide and out of one of the herd’s most proven donors, Mandayen Krystal C856. The other, Raven Kryptonite K63 was a 20-month-old son of Mandayen Duracell D1098.

CR&MM England, Keilira, made the most of the good buying, with four bulls averaging $5500. This included lot 6 Raven Kingston K78 at $6500, which had eight performance traits in the top 10 per cent of the breed.

Elders auctioneer Tony Wetherall said the 56pc clearance was not an accurate reflection of the top quality of bulls on offer. He commended the Schulz family’s passion to seek out top genetics and invest in AI and ET programs, saying they were up there with the “best in the breed”.

Mrs Schulz said although the clearance was disappointing, it was pleasing to receive positive feedback from repeat clients on the performance of their bulls. “We are striving to breed the best Limousin and Limflex we can and we are committed to them reaching weights and growth rates in the paddock comparable to those people who are hand feeding,” she said.