IT was an auction dominated by young 1.5 year-old ewes which sold to a top of $171 at last week's Elders Katanning Sheep sale.
In the sale some 27 lines of Merino ewes and two lines of wether lambs were offloaded by Elders auctioneer Don Morgan and his team for an average of $114 a head.
The 7857 head yarding attracted a crowd of 33 registered bidders - many of which were Elders, Landmark and Westcoast Livestock agents - with client orders to fill before summer hits and cereal stubbles are ready for grazing.
The impressive top price of $171 a head was reached twice throughout the afternoon with Boyup Brook farmer Anthony Hallett, DM & JM Hallett, playing a role in both instances.
The sale got off to a solid start with Mr Hallett picking up the first line offered - 127 September shorn, Mianelup blood, 1.5yo ewes from Mianelup Grazing, Gnowangerup - for $150 a head.
He contested Elders Lake Grace livestock agent Graeme Taylor for a second time in snapping up the second line offered in the sale for the sale's equal top price of $171.
This time it was a line of 175 Mianelup blood, 1.5yo Merino ewes from Mianelup Grazing carrying a bit more wool, having been shorn in April, which Mr Hallett secured.
Mr Hallett and his family joins about 10,300 Merino ewes each year in a substantially-sized prime lamb operation that mostly utilises Poll Dorset sires.
Having experienced a great season for sheep at Boyup Brook this year, Mr Hallett was yet again on the hunt for young replacement ewes of reputable bloodlines to reinvigorate his flock.
The Halletts buy in about 2000 young ewes each year and purchased the same Mianelup lines from last year's Elders Special Ewe sale.
"Last year we snapped up the Mianelup line without the jacket," Mr Hallett said.
"They performed really well and this time around they again looked like quality ewes to me."
Mr Hallett said the line's sizeable frame which will contribute significantly to the size and structure of the prime lambs produced as well as the farm's yearly wool clip was a huge drawcard.
Mianelup stud co-principal Elliot Richardson was on hand to see his line of commercial ewes sold and was pleased to have topped the sale.
"Though the ewes are surplus to our requirements they still exhibit the traits we are breeding for in the stud - growth, structure, wool cut and overall quality," Mr Richardson said.
The second of the top-priced lots was offered up Fred Leo and his son Garry, KA & L Leo, Leovale stud, Lake Grace.
The 198 August shorn, 1.5yo ewes were also based on the Leo family's own Leovale stud bloodlines and caused a flurry of bidding between Mr Hallett, Westcoast Livestock Albany agent Bill Kingston and Elders Narrogin livestock agent Paul Keppel.
Mr Keppel came out the overall winner of the popular line and paid $171 a head on behalf of an undisclosed Tincurrin buyer who also looks for quality young ewes to replenish his flock on a yearly basis.
"They'll form part of the operation's annual replacement numbers within the farm's White Suffolk prime lamb operation," Mr Keppel said.
"They are stylish young ewes which are the product of a great season at Lake Grace - they are really well-grown sheep with a very plain body."
Mr Leo said he was really happy with how his ewes presented in their pens and it was always good to benchmark his production outcomes against those of other Great Southern farmers.
"These ewes in particular averaged 17.7 micron at shearing time and the wool was sold just last week for a very pleasing price," Mr Leo said.
Plenty of the young ewes attracted pleasing price results for vendors during the afternoon.
An overall average of $121 was achieved for the 1.5yo offering and those penned up front generally attracted the better prices.
Daniel Eynon, DG & MA Eynon, Dumbleyung, paid $150 for the third pen offered which consisted of 167 April shorn, Willemenup blood, April/May drop ewes offered by FT Diprose & Co.
Landmark Mt Barker agent Charlie Staite paid $137 for a 293-strong line of October shorn, Woolkabin/MPM blood, June drop ewes offered by ER Patterson & Son, on behalf of TS Collins, Napier, while Elders Boyup Brook agent Peter Forrest locked in a huge line of 551 August shorn, High Valley blood ewes from RA Iffla & Partners for $130 that were taken on by DI, IJ & ME Muir (300), Boyup Brook and J Ritikis & Son (251), Boyup Brook.
Elders Bridgetown agent Brendon Mead was quick to snap up 226 July shorn, April drop, Barloo blood ewes from HW & HA Bairstow at $127 for McFarlane & Farrell while 325 of KD & J Van Viersen's September shorn, Crichton Vale blood, May/June drop ewes with an average 19.5 micron figure and scanned empty fetched $129 thanks to Ken Hart, KP & CM Hart, Narrogin.
Elders Mt Barker livestock agent Dean Wallinger was very active in the ordering stakes, paying $118 for 315 October shorn, East Carinya blood ewes from AK Stirling & Co on behalf of Blackwattle Grazing, Frankland, $108 for 464 October shorn, Strath-Haddon/Leovale blood ewes from TF & JF Delandgrafft on behalf of WT & LY Cooper & Son and $105 for 125 September shorn, Woolkabin blood, June/July drop ewes from Nullawill Traders on behalf of KW Bennett & Co.
He also bid to $103 for 101 September shorn, Anglesey blood ewes from HJ & NG Milne on behalf of Crawford Dowling Pty and $94 for 145 August shorn, Golden Hill blood ewes from RM & HD Willcocks on behalf of the latter buyer.
He then paid $78 twice on behalf of Blackwattle Grazing for both lines of wether lambs in the sale.
Online bidding via the AuctionsPlus system also proved fruitful with a number of lines being snapped up by buyers who weren't at the sale.
Elders State livestock manager Geoff Shipp relayed the bids of two buyers, Ryan Smith, Baboo Pastoral, Green Range and Crawford Dowling Pty, who were successful in locking in 261 October shorn, Barloo blood ewes from C & M English for $115 and 384 September shorn, Mianelup blood, April/May drop ewes from RJ Hewett for $112 respectively.
Six other lines of 1.5yo ewes sold for $75-$113 to buyer Chris French, who bought on behalf of JM Hebb, Collie, GB & AT Cowcher, Williams, while Elders stud stock representative Russell McKay bought for P Flannagan, Ballarat, Victoria, Gnowergerup Farms, Boyup Brook and Elders Cranbrook agent Clark Skinner purchased for Yongerup Stock Co.
Mr Skinner was successful in acquiring plenty of older sheep too.
He paid $114 for a 393-strong line of 2.5yo October shorn, Strath-Haddon blood ewes from TF & JF Delandgrafft for Yongerup Stock Co as well as $94 for 361 red, yellow and purple tag Merinotech blood ewes (September shorn) from John O'Hare & Co for the same buyer.
Ted Hill who farms at West River was also on the hunt for quality ewes in a bid to increase his flock size given the amount of feed still available on his farm.
With the help of Mr McKay, Mr Hill picked up two lines of ewes - 163 August shorn, Woolkabin blood, 2.5yo ewes from AE Patterson & Co, Woolkabin stud, Woodanilling, for $129 (for which he bid against top price buyer Anthony Hallett) and 287 October shorn, Mianelup blood, 5.5yo ewes from RJ Hewett for $108.
Peter Jennings, PE & LM Jennings, Boyup Brook, spent $101 on 109 October shorn, Merinotech blood, yellow and purple tag ewes from KL & KK Oliver while a massive draft of 559 October shorn, owner bred MPM ewes (5.5yo) from ER Patterson & Co proved to be too daunting for most buyers despite its 117 per cent lambing track record.
However the lot was eventually split in half and sold for $100 to BR O'Neil Farming (300) and Yongerup Stock Co (259).
