IT was the first day of spring, and bids were in the air at the Belka Valley Merino and Poll Merino on-property ram sale last week.
The change of seasons, preceded by showery rain the day before, saw competition for the stud's rams pick up where it left off last year, with the sale top of $2900 just $200 shy of the 2015 top price.
It was paid for a big Poll Merino ram in pen two which was bought by repeat stud clients Nick and Pam Spark, D & MA Spark & Co, Bonnie Rock.
Sired by Horus, the blade-shorn sire boasted measurements of 20.3 micron, 3.4 SD, 16.7 CV and a comfort factor of 99.7 per cent, and at 138kg was the heaviest ram in the production class at the recent Rabobank WA Sheep Expo & Sale in Katanning.
Mr Spark was also the successful bidder on all three of the remaining blade-shorn sires offered, buying four rams under the hammer for an average of $2375.
He said while he normally selected rams sired by Clancy, he was impressed by all four rams and was keen to secure them for his enterprise which consists of 6000 mated ewes, of which 3000 were mated to Merinos.
"We have been generally chasing the Clancy bloodline because we are from a fine wool base and are trying to increase the frame and plain down the flock," he said.
"But I was quite impressed with all of them, although I didn't think I'd be able to get them all.
"I needed four, and I was happy I picked them all up in the first line, although there were good rams spread throughout the shed."
The top-priced Horus ram would be used as a trial over the next batch of hoggets to see what affect the different genetics had on results.
This will also be the case with the ram in the first pen, with measurements of 20 micron, 3.4 SD, 17 CV and 99.5pc CF, which was sired by a poll syndicate and which Mr Spark paid $2500 for.
The other two rams were sired by Clancy and Mr Spark paid $2100 and $2000 for them.
Bidding was strong across the entire 70 head catalogue, with 59 rams sold under the hammer to 15 buyers at an average of $1292, up $26 on last year.
Elders auctioneer Nathan King told prospective buyers the Jones family had increased the number of rams on offer because they had been putting a lot of effort into their genetics and wanted to give buyers a good selection to choose from.
"They are being rewarded for investing money into very good sires and embryo work, they are putting back into the stud to make sure they are going forward with the stud with you," he said.
Of the 70 rams offered, 67 were Poll Merino rams of which 56 were sold, while all three Merinos were sold.
Volume buyer of the day was regular client Chris Flintham, CB Flintham & Co, who bought 13 rams at an average of $1046, including paying to a top of $1500 for a Poll Merino measuring 22.4 micron, 3.9 SD, 17.2 CV and 97.8pc CF, as well as snapping up the three Merinos offered to a top of $1000.
Mr Flintham, who runs about 1900 breeding ewes at his Muntadgin property, said his major focus in selecting the rams was their wool.
And his strategy has been paying dividends, recently selling his summer clip of 97 bales ranging from 18.2 micron to 22.3 micron for an average of 885c/kg and also securing the Elders Supreme Clip of the Sale.
KM O'Neill & Son, Lake Grace, bought six rams at an average of $983 and to a top of $1200, while PR Wanless, Muntadgin, bought five rams at an average of $1420 and to a top of $1900.
Four buyers picked up four rams each - sale top buyers D & MA Spark, Bonnie Rock; EB & EC Auld, Merredin, at an average of $1150 and to a top of $1500; GR & L Bent, Mukinbudin at an average of $1250 and to a top of $1400; and TR Major, Muntadgin at an average of $1850 and to a top of $2300 - the third-highest price of the sale.
Stud principal Philip Jones was pleased with the support once again from growers.