BUYERS looking for LambPlan figures which really showed off the 'prime' in the Prime SAMM breed needed to look no further than this year's on-property ram sale at Royston Prime SAMM stud, Napier, where prices topped at $2000.
It might not have been a showy sale with a total of 36 of the 60 rams sold under the hammer, but the return buyers in the sale shed knew they were buying high indexing sires, taking the sale to a gross of $34,000 and an average of $944.
Compared to the 2019 Royston sale, prices were down despite the consistent standard of quality commented on before the sale - last year the stud sold 47 from a team of 80 to a top of $3100 and an average of $1123.
Elders auctioneer Preston Clarke said the quality of the Royston Prime SAMMs on offer came through in the figures and showed in the bidding.
"Royston has a real focus on indexing and they are putting in the work to educate their clients about the value there," Mr Clarke said.
"It's clear their clients have listened as they were obviously chasing the higher indexing sheep in the catalogue today.
"There was a greater selection of sheep than buyers but there were a lot of options with very good indexes to choose from."
Bidding at the top end of the sale for the top-priced ram on the day was Elders stud stock's Michael O'Neill, who recognised lot three as a standout ram, paying $2000 on behalf of an undisclosed first-time buyer.
It was the highest indexing ram in the shed, but Mr O'Neill praised the quality of the wool even above the standout figures.
"In my opinion the wool on this ram rates even higher than the carcase traits which were certainly there - this ram is a bit of a package," he said.
The twin-born ram showed excellent growth as a July-born lamb, with figures including 8.1 WWT, 9.3 PWWT, 2.0 PEMD, 0.7 PFAT and a DP$ index of 161, ranking the highest in the shed for each individual measurement, backed up by wool test results which included 20.8 micron and 99.2 per cent comfort factor.
The volume buyer on the day was Graham Barrett-Lennard, Prairie Nominees Pty Ltd, Newdegate, who secured 10 rams under the hammer for an average price of $980.
Mr Barrett-Lennard, a returning client of more than five years, said he was filling his order for replacements to go over his Prime SAMM flock of about 3000 ewes.
"We're looking for moderate size sheep which have a good dual purpose index," Mr Barrett-Lennard said.
"It's about getting lots of lambs on the ground and these rams do the job pretty well for us each year."
With a split lambing program at home, Mr Barrett-Lennard said it was hard to give exact percentages but just eyeballing it, the lambing percentages this year with Royston genetics are looking good.
"We've been really happy with the results we've had since we've been coming to this sale and the SAMMs are very easy care - they eat anything, we don't mules - I'm really happy with how they perform in our environment."
Among Mr Barrett-Lennard's team was the second top-priced ram sold on the day at $1500, paid for a twin-born June-drop lamb with figures including 7.8 WWT, 8.4 PWWT, 1.8 PEMD, 0.7 PFAT and 157 DP$ index, complemented by wool test figures including 21.3 micron and 99.4pc comfort factor.
Another volume buyer with lots of positive things to say about the Royston genetics was Emil Guidi, R & E Guidi, Kojonup, who finished his buying effort with a team of five rams for an average price of $780.
"Last year was our first year buying at this sale and we achieved an average of 120 per cent at lambing," Mr Guidi said.
It seemed like a pretty good reason to return this year to find more rams to run with the flock of 1200 Prime SAMM breeding ewes at Kojonup.
"We're building up our numbers so we were looking for big frames and good carcase traits to match," Mr Guidi said.
Katanning-based NC Flugge & Co tallied up another large team of Prime SAMMs, buying seven under the hammer at an average of $929.
Woolark Pastoral and AG Thomas & LJ McMahon each bought teams of four, averaging $825 and $875 respectively.
Others to secure rams during the sale included buyers from as far away as Geraldton and Jerramungup.
There was a number of passed-in rams available for negotiations post-sale.
Royston stud principal Sandy Forbes said she was pleased with the overall results.
"Given the lack of water in areas where a large portion of our clients are, as well as the reduction in stock, I was pleased with how the sale went today," Ms Forbes said.
"We appreciate the support we've received from loyal clients and I think by coming back again they are validating the work we're doing on our LambPlan figures.
"I'm really proud of the quality we were able to present this year and we've had some really positive comments which is great."
