THE 76th annual Northern Stud Breeders' Ram Sale at Northampton was heated as temperatures rose to 30 degrees celsius and bidders pushed prices to a $3100 sale top recently.
In the sale, which was conducted by Nutrien Livestock and Westcoast Wool & Livestock, four local Merino studs and one Poll Dorset stud offered 137 Poll Merinos and 10 Poll Dorsets and after some strong bidding, 128 Poll Merinos and five Poll Dorsets were cleared under the hammer.
Twenty eight registered buyers, four less than the previous year, made the trip to support the vendors, with the Poll Merino offering averaging $910 and the Poll Dorsets averaging $336.
A reduced number of ewes in the area was said to be responsible for the sale's lower averages, the Merino average was down $229 on last year, while the Poll Dorset average dropped $414.
The $3100 top-priced ram was sold by the Teakle family's Walkindyer Poll Merino stud and it was Glen Tapscott, GJ & TA Tapscott, Morawa, who made the final bid.
The ram had wool test figures of 20.4 micron, 3.0 SD, 14.9 CV and 99 per cent comfort factor (CF).
In comparison Walkindyer also made last year's top price selling a ram for $3800 to be down $700.
By the end of the sale the Teakles had managed to clear all 75 rams in their line-up for an average of $884, which was back $275 on last year.
Mr Tapscott went onto secure a team of four rams from Walkindyer stud at an average of $1700.
Volume buyer in the Walkindyer stud run and the sale was Squarewell Farming Co, Northampton, which put together a team of 13 rams to a top of $900 and an average of $823.
Following close behind was MC & JA Culloton, Moonyoonooka, which secured 10 rams at $500 each.
Buying a ute load of eight rams from Walkindyer to be among the volume buyers was DV & ME Simpson, Northampton.
The Simpsons bid to a top of $1000 and averaged $725 across their team of eight.
Westcoast Wool & Livestock auctioneer Brad Preston, who sold the Walkindyer offering, said it was a positive sale result with 100 per cent clearance in the Westcoast Wool & Livestock portion of the sale.
"It was a great quality offering, the sale prices reflected the current market and industry conditions," Mr Preston said.
Walkyinder stud co-principal Nathan Teakle said the rams sold were good value for money and we had a reasonable clearance.
Overall Mr Teakle said he was very happy with the sale result.
He said the ram that made the sale's top price was well nourished, had white, bright, crimpy wool and was a nice square ram.
The Gill family's Sandhurst stud had the next biggest team in the sale with an offering of 30 rams and it cleared 24 of them under the hammer at an average of $1079, achieving the highest average of the sale.
The Sandhurst team topped at $2600 when Lyndhurst Grazing Co, Eneabba, bid to this value for a sire with wool test figures of 19 micron, 3.0 SD, 15.8 CV and 99.9pc CF.
The second top-price ram in the Sandhurst team was also purchased by Lyndhurst Grazing Co when it bid to $2300 for a ram with test figures of 19.9 micron, 3.4 SD, 17.1 CV, 99.7pc CF.
Lyndhurst Grazing Co purchased six more rams to finish with a team of eight Sandhurst sires at an average of $1175.
Also buying numbers out of the Sandhurst offering at the top end was DR & HA Moffat & Son, Geraldton, which put together a tidy team of five at a high of $1900 and an average of $1040.
Once again supporting the sale was AJS Hulme & Co, Wattle Grove, purchasing four rams to average $800.
Bidding began with a bang for the Haselby's Mulga Springs Poll Merino stud with the team leader achieving the stud's top price of $1500.
Mulga Springs stud offered 20 rams in the sale and 18 sold under the hammer for an average of $811, which was back $415 on last year.
The $1500 top price Mulga Springs ram was purchased by the Northampton-based operation Eastough Farming.
The June 2019-drop ram measured 18.6 micron in the wool and was a long-bodied sire with a long-stapled, bright, white wool.
Return buyer W & E Boys, Coronation Beach, picked up eight of Mulga Springs' rams, averaging $713, while DV & ME Simpson, Northampton, added to their team purchased from Walkindyer, securing another five rams at an average of $780 from Mulga Springs.
Ben and Jackie Simkin's Lyndale Poll Merino stud, Binnu, rounded out the Merino offering and Nutrien Livestock auctioneer Craig Walker powered through the line-up to clear 11 out of 12 rams and receive a top of $1000 and an average of $881.
The $1000 top was reached five times from three different bidders.
First to pay the $1000 top was DV & ME Simpson, before going to pay the value again later in the sale.
Next to pay the price was SM Criddle, Walkaway, paying $1000 for lot 53 and 54.
BP and DM Simkin, Binnu, also paid $1000 for the Lyndale ram in lot 56.
The Frank family's Kainga Poll Dorset stud, Geraldton, put 10 rams up for sale and sold five.
It was local supporters Andrew and Natasha Pluschke, Northampton, who purchased four of the rams averaging $345 and AP Bennett, Northampton who bought one for $300.
Nutrien Livestock auctioneer Craig Walker said overall it was a robust sale with a very well presented line-up of rams which he said were a credit to the vendors.
