IT was a big day out at Gnowangerup when the House family, Barloo stud, offered the biggest offering of Merino and Poll Merino rams in a single sale in WA this year and buyers turned up in their droves to get their hands on the quality genetics.
After buying the Willemenup Poll Merino stud last August, the House family upped its numbers for its annual on-property ram sale and put forward an offering of 349 well-grown, well-made, quality woolled Barloo and Willemenup sires, all tied up on chains in their ram selling complex and buyers responded accordingly, pushing prices to a sale high $12,500 for a Barloo Poll sire.
There was solid competition throughout the large catalogue from 65 registered stud and commercial buyers, who had travelled from as far away as Mingenew in the north and Kalannie in the Wheatbelt, with rams even in the last row making more than $2200 when they were the right types for buyers.
When the numbers were finally crunched after more than fours of selling by Elders auctioneers Nathan King and Preston Clarke, 293 or 84 per cent of the rams were headed to 56 different new homes at an average of $1842 and an overall sale gross of $539,650.
In the breakdown the House family offered 248 Barloo rams (147 Merinos and 101 Poll Merinos) and sold 199 (113 Merinos and 86 Poll Merinos) for an average of $1896, which was back $219 on the Barloo sale result last year.
In 2019 Barloo offered 226 Merino and Poll Merino rams and sold 221 for a $2115 average.
When it came to the Willemenup side of the catalogue there were 101 Willemenup Polll Merinos offered in the sale and 94 were cleared under the hammer at an average of $1727, which was up $143 on the stud's 2019 result.
Last year in the Willemenup annual on-property ram sale which was the last hosted by the Garnett family, there were 148 rams offered and 111 sold for a $1584 average.
Elders stud stock representative and Barloo classer Russell McKay was pleased with the result and said it was a solid sale throughout.
"It was an outstanding presentation of Merino and Poll Merino rams which all showed excellent wool and carcase traits put forward by the House family," Mr McKay said.
"The line-up was a credit to their dedication and investment in their breeding program.
"I have been involved in the Barloo stud for 30 years and it was as good a line-up as I have seen the stud offered in the time I have been involved.
"All the way through the shed buyers knew what they wanted and were prepared to pay for what they wanted.
"I think the top end of the sale was probably stronger than what we thought it would be going in which is a good reward for the house family.
"But overall it followed the trend of other sales this year with the number of rams sold and the average back as a result of the bad season which has seen many producers off-load breeding stock and as a consequence they are requiring less rams.
"This was evident towards the end of sale where we passed in a few more rams than we would have liked just because buyers had already filled their numbers."
Like Mr McKay, Barloo stud principal Richard House was happy with how the sale panned out.
"We are very pleased with the final sale result and are very happy and grateful for the support we received from the Willemenup clients who came to the sale and supported the offering of Willemenup rams we put forward," Mr House said.
"Our aim with putting up such a big offering was to give all clients, both old and new, an opportunity to have plenty of rams to choose from and we knew we were going to probably pass in a large number of rams but we were happy to do that."
The sale kicked off with an offering of 45 March shorn, shed-prepared rams from the Barloo and Willemenup lines and they set a good foundation for the sale, with all selling under Mr King's hammer for a $3528 average.
For years the Barloo stud has been well-known for breeding top Merino rams, but its Poll breeding program is quickly catching up and this year for the first time it was a Poll Merino ram from the stud which claimed top price honours when it sold at $12,500.
When Mr King offered up the upstanding, structurally correct ram in lot five, he received an opening bid of $4500 and from there the bids flooded-in, in quick succession and all he had to do was add them up.
Finally when the price hit $12,500 Mr King knocked the ram down to retired stud stock agent Bob Bratten and Nutrien Wool representative Mark Screaigh, who were bidding on behalf of first time Barloo buyer Peter Panizza, Trevino stud, Southern Cross.
Mr Bratten said the ram was a very safe and good stud ram.
"He is good on his legs, has good conformation and has a top well-nourished, soft, white, stylish wool," Mr Bratten said.
"We were chasing a ram with good wool and good body size and this ram certainly ticked both those boxes."
The 112.5 kilogram ram is a Caesar cross son and it had current wool figures of 22.0 micron, 3.4 SD, 15.4 CV and 98.4 per cent comfort factor (CF) to go with a body growth rate of 360 grams a day and a fleece growth rate of 1060g/day.
Also during the sale Mr Bratten and Mr Screaigh secured a second Barloo Poll by the same sire as the top-priced ram for $4100 and a Willemenup Poll carrying East Bungaree bloodlines for $3700.
The Barloo ram has wool figures of 22.9 micron, 3.3 SD and 98.1pc CF to go with a 355g/day body growth rate and a wool growth rate of 1000g/day while the Willemenup sire measures 21.4 micron, 3.2 SD and 98.9pc CF in the wool and has a wool growth rate of 1080g/day.
The second top price for the sale and the top price for a Barloo Merino ram was $8750 when return buyer Daniel Patterson, Redwood Enterprises, Gnowangerup, had the final bid at this value on a big, long-bodied ram with plenty of scale offered in lot two.
The 115kg Dominator 475 son, not only impressed with its size but its figures were also very good.
It has current wool figures of 20.3 micron, 2.8 SD, 13.9 CV and 99.4pc CF while its body growth rate was 316g/day and its wool growth rate was1080g/day.
Mr Patterson said he was very impressed by both the ram's body size and wool quality.
"He is a good, solid sized ram, with a good wool for his frame size," Mr Patterson said.
"His wool is white and bright and has a very good crimp.
"I have a fairly good idea what he is going to grow into and I think he will be a very good sire for our nucleus breeding flock."
Along with the top-priced Merino ram Mr Patterson also went home with the $8000 second top-priced Barloo Merino when the sale's team leader was written down to his account.
Mr Patterson said the stud's team leader was also a very good ram.
"He has a long-stapled wool which is soft, bright and has good crimp definition."
The 122.5kg ram is sired by Impact 565 and has current wool figures of 20.9 micron, 3.0 SD, 14.3 CV and 99.1pc CF to go with a body growth rate of 352g/day and a wool growth rate of 1120g/day.
Mr Patterson said he was chasing rams with big frames, good growth rates and quality wools and both the sires he purchased had all these traits.
Both rams will be used in the operation's nucleus ewe flock which comprises of 450 ewes to breed rams for their own use.
This year the operation will join 4000 ewes to Merino rams and 1000 Merino ewes to White Suffolk sires.
Mr Patterson said they liked the Barloo bloodlines because they were very good bodied animals and were true to type.
"They have good carcase and wool traits and we are getting good results from them," he said.
The operation's entire flock averages a 6kg wool cut a head and 20.5 microns.
The top price for a Willemenup Poll ram was $5700 paid by Willemenup clients of more than 10 years Jim and Kate Heal, Heal Farming, West Three Springs.
Mr Heal said the April shorn ram which was from a syndicate mating had a big frame and a heavy cutting fleece.
"He has a bright, white wool on a good deep, thick body," Mr Heal said.
"We like the Willemenup bloodline because they are good strong doers with good production traits.
"They have good early growth that allow us to turn our wether lambs off early."
The top Willemenup ram weighed in at 123kg and had wool figures of 22.8 micron, 3.5 SD, 15.4 CV, 97.4pc CF and a wool growth rate of 1150g/day.
Also heading to the Heal's property was the $5200 second top-priced Willemenup ram which Mr Heal said was an upstanding sire with a nice, bright wool.
The 117kg, March shorn ram has East Bungaree bloodlines and wool figures of 22.4 micron, 3.2 SD, 14.3 CV, 98pc CF and a wool growth rate of 1040g/day.
The Heals will use both rams in a nucleus breeding flock to breed rams for their own use.
This year they will mate 2500 ewes all to Poll Merino rams and are aiming to get up to joining 3000 ewes again as they have had to rebuild their flock after some dry seasons.
This year they achieved a lambing percentage of 102pc, while for the past six years their adult sheep have averaged 21 micron and a 6.5-7kg cut.
There were a number of other buyers to secure rams at more than $5000 throughout the sale and they included Teddington Farms, Gnowangerup, which purchased two Barloo Merinos to a $6300 top and three Barloo Polls to a $4100 top, while WA Hinkley & Co, Gnowangerup, secured two Barloo Polls to a $6100 top and AKJ Slee, bid to $6800 for a Barloo Poll.
Others to secure rams at $5000 or more were CJ Squiers & Sons, Quairading, going home with a Willemenup Poll at $5000 in addition to a Barloo Poll at $1000, while BW & DA Barrows, purchased two Barloo Polls to $5000 and three Barloo Merinos to $3900 and Cardiff stud, Yorkrakine, purchased two Merinos to $5000.
The sale not only saw a run of high prices but there were also a number of buyers who put together big teams to ensure a successful sale for the House family.
The biggest of these were return Willemenup buyers, the Egerton-Warburton family,
G & M Egerton-Warburton, Frankland.
They worked their way through the catalogue and finished the day with a team of 17 Barloo Polls, 13 Willemenup Polls and two Barloo Merinos at an average of $1428 and to a top of $2900 paid for a Barloo Poll.
Grant Egerton-Warburton said the family was chasing structurally correct rams with good size and finer, bright, white wools to suit their environment and breeding objectives.
"Our mature ewe flock averages 19 micron and that's where we want to be," Mr Egerton-Warburton.
This year the operation will join 5500 ewes to Merino and Poll Merino rams while another 5000 Merino ewes will be joined to Suffolk, Poll Dorset and Border Leicester rams.
"We are trying to increase our ewe breeding numbers slightly and will mate more ewes to Merinos than in the past so we don't have to buy in as many young ewes for our prime lamb operation in years to comes," Mr Egerton-Warburton said.
Return Barloo buyer of 35 years Geoff Cosgrove, Cosgrove Farming, Mingenew, like years gone by again featured in the clerking sheets on many occasions.
Mr Cosgrove, who likes the Barloo sheep for their robustness, big frames and heavy wool cuts, finished the sale with 15 Barloo Merinos at an average of $2493.
He paid to a high of $4400 for a 121kg Impact 414 son which measured 21.9 micron and 99pc CF.
Mr Cosgrove said he was chasing rams with good body growth rates as their aim was to turn their wether lambs off at 10-11 months old.
Their ewe flock from hoggets up averages 20-21 micron with the ewes cutting 7kg a head.
This year the Cosgroves are aiming to join 3000 ewes, all to Merinos.
Bidding through Mr McKay return Barloo clients C & M English, Wagin, finished with a team of 17 Barloo rams (15 Merinos and two Polls) at an average of $1224, while DM MCL & JA Stewart, Lake Grace, averaged $988 across a team of six Willemenup rams, four Barloo Polls and six Barloo Merinos.
There were two other buyers to put together double figure teams.
They were HW & HA Bairstow, Dumbleyung, who bought through Mr McKay and finished with 11 Barloo rams (eight Merinos and three Polls) at an average of $1663 and TA & AR Ross, Jerramungup, averaged $1730 across a team of six Barloo Polls and four Willemenup sires.
