ROSS and Leanne Proud, West Toodyay, discovered their superfine fleece was sought after, despite demand for other local wools generally stopping dead last week.
A five-bale line of their 17.1 micron Merino fleece appraised as MF4E attracted top price at the Western Wool Centre (WWC), selling in the Dyson Jones catalogue to Fremantle Wool Trading for 1440 cents a kilogram greasy as the Prouds watched from the visitors' gallery.
The fleece, which displayed a well-defined crimp, had technical specifications of 75 millimetres staple length from an eight-month shearing, 54N/kt staple strength, 73.2 per cent yield and low 0.6 vegetable matter.
The Proud's main fleece line also sold, bought by Modiano for 1332c/kg, but a two-bale third fleece lot was passed in at 1300c/kg with just one bid from G Schneider (Australia).
"We're very happy with the result, considering where the market was heading," said Mr Proud after the sale.
The 26 bales of wool put up last week came from shearing about 1800 ewes early last month.
The Prouds expect their next clip in April to be supplemented by extra wool from about 1200 lambs.
