BUYERS from across the State were in strong attendance at this year's Hill Padua MPM on-property ram sale at Three Springs on Monday, where the number of registered bidders was up on previous years.
Stud principal Anthony Thomas, who uses Australian Sheep Breeding Values (ASBVs) to breed highly fertile, big-bodied, multi-purpose Merinos was thrilled at the result of the sale which saw prices reach a top of $4200.
At the commencement of the sale Mr Thomas emphasised the importance of selecting traits using ASBVs, and said by focusing on traits such as weight it would lead to increased fertility.
Primaries auctioneer Craig Walker commended Hill Padua on the superb quality of the rams on offer and emphasised the excellent numbers shown in the stud's ASBVs.
At the conclusion of the sale, 118 rams had been sold under the hammer for an average of $1628.
The top-priced ram started a bidding frenzy, when it was offered during the middle of the sale, but in the end it was eventually secured by Gibson farmer Nils Blumann.
The strong bodied sire had ASBVs of 14.26 YWT, 1.79 YFAT, 2.69 YEMD, 33.48 YCFW and 184.94 Merino DP+ index.
These figures mean this ram is ranked in the top one per cent for YCFW, YWT, YFAT and Merino DP+ index on the Australian MerinoSelect database.
Having both wool and meat traits ranked in the top 1pc of the Australian MerinoSelect database show the quality of this sire and its ability to improve a range of targeted traits.
Mr Blumann joins approximately 4000 ewes on his farm in the Gibson region and said the season was looking good, however it was quite wet on his farm.
"We breed our own rams but also like to use new genetics," he said.
"I look for high fleece weight, improved eye muscle and good yearling weight when selecting rams, which is why these rams stood out."
Mr Blumann went on to purchase the second top-priced ram at $4000.
It displayed ASBVs of 14.23 YWT, 1.96 YFAT, 3.28 YEMD, 31.07 YCFW and 183.83 Merino DP+ index of the MerinoSelect database.
All of the ASBVs for this ram are in the top 1pc for the Australian MerinoSelect database.
Volume buyers at the sale, G & RJ Ballard had travelled from Narrogin to take home a strong team of 15 rams, to an average of $1317.
Other volume buyers included M & B Errington, Jurien, who purchased a selection of eight sires while KJ & BJ Ward, Watheroo, purchased seven.
Perenjori operation RGB Farming Co was also busy in the sale and secured six sires to a top of $2900.
The $2900 sire was a long, deep ram and displayed ASBVs of 14.35 YWT, 1.34 YFAT, 2.03 YEMD, 30.41YCFW and a Merino DP+ index of 30.41.
The YWT and YCFW ASBVs for this ram rank it in the top 1pc of the MerinoSelect database, while it ranks in top 5pc and 10pc for YFAT and YEMD respectively.
Among the many return buyers to this year's Hill Padua sale was Harley Sears, Wakeford Holdings, Marchagee.
Mr Sears purchased a strong team of five sires, to a top of $2000 for a ram with ASBVs of 13.19 YWT, 2.01 YFAT, 3.47 YEMD, all in the top 1pc of the MerinoSelect database and YCFW of 20.93, ranking in the top 20pc.
Mr Sears selects for eye muscle, fat and growth when selecting rams to purchase, and said this had definitely paid off in his Poll Dorset and MPM enterprise in Marchagee.
"We started using ASBVs in 2006 and purchased a line of 400 Hill Padua MPM ewes," he said.
"From there we have seen an amazing result with the fertility of the flock with lambing rates improving substantially."
The overall number of dry ewes for their operation this year was less than 1pc, with a total lambing percentage of 141.7pc.
"Our 327 maiden red tag ewes, mated to Hill Padua MPMs had a lambing rate of 154pc this year which shows the value of the genetics and selecting for ASBV traits such as weight," Mr Sears said.
Anthony Thomas was extremely pleased with the result of the sale, saying it started strongly and finished strongly.
Primaries auctioneer Craig Walker said the results from the sale were outstanding.
"The Hill Padua MPMs are a truly versatile breed, and results like these put a lot a lot faith in the Merino industry," he said.
