DESPITE one of the toughest seasons in Western Australia on record, sheep studs have come through this year's selling season in pretty good shape.
A magnificent season in the eastern States after several years of dry has sparked a restocking frenzy, and with WA farmers having to destock due to lack of feed and water, the sheep trucks started rolling out of WA in August.
As of Monday, a total of 641,627 ewes and lambs have exited WA via the Ceduna checkpoint, for the year to date and at a conservative estimate agents believe between 80 to 85 per cent of these are breeding ewes.
While the impact of this ewe exodus probably won't be felt until next year, it was more the season that impacted on this year's ram sales.
Anybody who had an early sale certainly fared better than later sales as the dry season lingered on.
The figures don't lie, though, despite all the challenges faced by the WA sheep industry this year, it still managed to post the fourth best average in the last 10 years.
This year, 15,568 Merino, British, Australasian and South African breed rams have been offered to date at sales throughout WA, with 13,166 selling at auction to gross $12,175,920 at a $925 average and an 85pc clearance.
Last year, 14,995 rams were offered and 13,339 sold under the hammer to gross $12,328,179 at an average of $924 and an 89pc clearance.
This means across the board this year to date, an extra 573 rams have been offered and only 173 less rams were sold, while the gross is down only $152,259 this year, against a backdrop of dwindling flock numbers and a terrible season.
Overall, this year's ram selling season average of $924 was the fourth best recorded since 2000, up $1 on last year and up 33pc on the 2000 average of $697.
In terms of gross, average and clearance, 2003 is the best year on record over the last decade.
In that year, 18,510 rams were offered, 17,159 sold for a clearance of 92pc, while the sales grossed over $19.5 million and averaged $1137.
But how the backdrop was different in 2003 compared to this year.
In 2003, all the stars aligned after a dry season in 2002.
In 2003, 95pc of the agricultural region had experienced good rains and grain prices were good, in terms of the sheep industry ewes were regularly breaking the $100 barrier in spring sales as producers tried to rebuild their flocks.
The 2010 selling year has delivered its own challenges, but sheep producers have responded in a positive manner.
For Farm Weekly's comprehensive coverage on this year's ram selling season, see pages 63 to 77.
