BREEDERS chasing performance bred terminal genetics and proven maternal genetics were spoilt for choice at last week's BreedersBEST Genetics on-property ram sale at Kojonup.
The Heggaton family served up a 343 strong line-up of Poll Dorset, White Suffolk, Kojak and Prolific sires which all boasted high performance figures and buyers came from far and wide to get their hands on the genetics and pushed prices to a high of $10,600 for a Poll Dorset sire.
The impressive line-up of rams showed the work and investment stud principals Craig and Liz Heggaton have put into their breeding and all four breeds drew spirited competition which resulted in a near-perfect clearance for the Heggatons under the hammer.
By the end of the marathon selling effort of just over three hours from Elders auctioneer Preston Clarke, the 74 registered buyers from both the local area as well as to the far east at Esperance, as far north as Miling and also the Eastern States, had cleared 342 of the rams under the hammer for a gross of $620,300 and an average of $1814, which was up $207.
The one passed in Poll Dorset ram also found a new home, selling privately during the sale to give the stud a total clearance by sale's end.
In comparison at last year's sale the Heggatons offered 340 rams and sold 322 under the hammer for an average of $1607.
Mr Clarke said it was a fantastic sale for the Heggaton family and a vote of confidence in their breeding program.
"The line-up of rams was exceptional and the presentation across all four breeds couldn't have been better," Mr Clarke said.
"It was a very consistent sale throughout the entire offering and the line-up received good support from both old and new buyers.
"The Poll Dorset rams had good structures and were backed by excellent figures across the board and buyers responded accordingly.
"Their figures, which are relevant to commercial producers in terms of putting dollars in the pocket, were very good and buyers chased these types more strongly.
"The White Suffolks sold well to returning buyers but were not chased as vigorously as the Poll Dorsets.
"On the maternal side we achieved exceptional results, which were well up on expectations with the Kojaks.
"There really is nothing that compares to this breed and people using them as an alternative shedding breed and getting results certainly showed support for them.
"The bidding on them was red hot and we certainly had no problem selling them.
"There was good consistent support for the Prolifics and there were no real highs or lows in the run.
"We offered more Prolifics due to the increased demand last year, so it was pleasing to sell them all."
Equally as happy with the sale result was Mr Heggaton who also said it was a fantastic sale.
"We have a great appreciation for all our buyers that support us and have a lot of faith in the future of the lamb industry," Mr Heggaton said.
"The Poll Dorset and White Suffolks were stronger than what we thought they would be in terms of prices and clearance.
"We had very good support on these from long-term buyers that are seeing the results of using our rams which have been bred for high growth, meaning they are able to turn their lambs off early.
"Today showed people are prepared to pay for performance bred genetics.
"The Kojaks were a surprise and sold well above expectations.
"It may have been a result of the position of the wool industry and producers being more interested in shedding breeds again.
"In the Prolifics there was strong demand from return clients who were achieving extremely high lambing results.
"A number of clients are marking 150 per cent lambs from their first-cross Prolific ewes.
"We upped our numbers in this breed this year due to strong demand last year and were pleased to see the clearance held and all our clients could fill their orders."
Poll Dorset
First to go under the hammer was the line-up of 119 Sherwood Poll Dorsets and there was very good competition on these from a strong contingent of return buyers.
By the end of the run 118 had sold under the hammer for an average of $1797, which was up $43 on last year's result.
The sole passed in ram also sold quickly afterwards to further enhance the impressive result.
The tone for the breed and the sale in general was set early, when the first ram was offered by Mr Clarke.
Buyers let the price come right down to an opening bid of $1600 on the long-bodied, well-made ram, but from there Mr Clarke had no problems extracting bids from buyers and it just became a case of adding them up.
In the end it was return buyers of a couple of years Eric, Louise, Brad and Sarah Ipsen, Twin Lakes Holdings, Manjimup, which prevailed as the winning bidders at $10,600.
Buyer Brad Ipsen said the ram was very good across the board when it came to its figures.
"I have looked at a number of catalogues from different studs across Australia and this ram's figures are as good as any I have seen," Mr Ipsen said.
"As a commercial producer we need growth and meat and this ram has both these.
"Along with his good figures he is a square, thick ram which stands up well with a good head.
"Another thing I was chasing in him was his Pollambi bloodline."
The ET-bred ram is a son of Pollambi 160212 and had Australian Sheep Breeding Values (ASBVs) of 0.37 BWT, 11.71 WWT, 18.34 PWWT, -0.68 PFAT and 3.72 PEMD along with terminal carcase production (TCP) index of 160.07.
The Ipsens will use the ram in a nucleus flock of 70 Poll Dorset ewes to breed rams for their prime lamb operation in which they mate 4500 Kelso ewes to Poll Dorset rams annually.
Mr Ipsen said they aimed to turn their late June/July-drop lambs off as suckers to WAMMCO at 21-22 kilograms in December, straight off their mothers.
"We have a great deal of confidence in the future of the WA lamb industry and is why we were prepared to bid up on this ram," he said.
"The Heggatons and WA stud breeders in general I think need to be acknowledged for the efforts they are going to investing in new genetics to provide commercial producers with seed stock to take their operations forward as the sheep and lamb industries are going to be strong for many years to come."
The next best price in the Poll Dorset run and the sale overall was $6400 which was bid by the Alexander family, Bradscott Pty Ltd, Narrogin, for another ET-bred Pollambi 160212 son.
The thick, deep-bodied ram has ASBVs of 0.39 BWT, 12.27 WWT, 19.09 PWWT, -0.42 PFAT and 3.15 PEMD along with a TCP index of 154.05.
Long-term buyers Glenn, Susan and David Mead, GR & SL Mead, Chowerup, were the major buyers in the Poll Dorset run securing 19 sires to a top of $1900 and an average of $1484.
The Meads, who like the Sherwood rams because they produce well-muscled, early maturing lambs, will this year join 3000 Merino ewes to Poll Dorset rams.
They have already sold 600 June drop lambs (over two loads) at about 23.4kg to WAMMCO since the beginning of October.
Return buyers of five years John and Jack South, Knack Pty Ltd, Darkan, who intend to mate 7000 first-cross Prolific-Merino ewes this year to Poll Dorsets, were also volume buyers securing 14 Poll Dorset sires to a top of $1800 and an average of $1493.
The Knacks said they were chasing rams with lower birthweights and higher weaning weights.
Joining the list of return buyers to bid up strongly in the run was Barry Hardie, Hardie Nominees Pty Ltd, Narrogin, who purchased 10 rams to a $2200 high and a $1960 average.
Other good supporters in the run were Bill O'Keeffe, O'Keeffe Farming, Gnowangerup, and MG Egerton-Warburton & Co, Kojonup.
Mr O'Keeffe purchased nine rams at an average of $2033 and the Egerton-Warburtons averaged $1533 across a team of nine.
White Suffolks
The selling team kept the solid sale going when they moved into the offering of 50 Sherwood White Suffolks with all 50 selling to a top of $1900 on three occasions and for an average of $1202, which was back $138 on last year.
After purchasing strongly in the Poll Dorset run the Mead family backed it up in the White Suffolk line-up as they chased rams to use over their maiden ewes.
The Meads purchased eight White Suffolks at an average of $1488 and their team included two of the three $1900 top-priced White Suffolk sires.
They paid $1900 for the first two White Suffolk rams offered which were both ET-bred and by Woolumbool 173980.
The first ram had ASBVs of 0.35 BWT, 10.94 WWT, 17.46 PWWT, 0.28 PFAT and 3.28 PEMD along with a TCP index of 159.52, while the second ram ASBVs were 0.41 BWT, 11.26 WWT, 17.99 PWWT, 0.0 PFAT and 3.03 PEMD and a TCP index of 156.79.
The third White Suffolk sire to hit the $1900 breed top price, was also the third ram offered in the run, when it sold to Winton Park Grazing Company, Tambellup.
The ram, which was also an ET-bred son of Woolumbool 173980, had ASBVs of 0.36 BWT, 10.90 WWT, 17.40 PWWT, 0.47 PFAT and 3.04 PEMD and a TCP index of 156.86.
The Tambellup operation secured another White Suffolk ram during the sale at $1500 to take home alongside eight Poll Dorsets they had earlier purchased at an average of $1763.
The biggest buyer in the White Suffolk section of the sale was Betrack, which drove out the gate with a ute load of nine White Suffolks at an average of $1011 and to a top of $1100.
Other bigger buyers in the run were return buyers RF & MR Bilney, which averaged $1400 over a team of seven and United Enterprises WA Pty Ltd, Kojonup, which secured seven at a $1057 average.
Kojak
The Kojak breed was third to sell and as soon as Mr Clarke offered up the first ram buyers showed they were certainly here to buy and the competition never wore off as he offered the remaining 65 rams.
All up 66 Kojak rams were offered and they all found a new home when they sold to a top of $3000 and for an average of $2314, which was up $1161.
In last year's sale the Heggatons sold 57 from 74 Kojaks offered at an average of $1153.
After the last Kojak ram was sold the buyers also scrambled into the private selection pens to clear all the Kojak rams there as well.
When it came to the $3000 top-priced Kojak ram it was Elders Kojonup agent Jamie Hart, who had the final bid when he placed it for Peter Hall, Waitavalo Farms Pty Ltd, Narembeen, who has been buying Kojak rams from the Heggatons since they first started selling them.
Mr Hart said Mr Hall had picked the ram out based on its figures in the catalogue.
The ET-bred had raw figures of 33.2kg WWT, 55.0kg PWWT, 342.2 grams per day growth rate, 31.1 eye muscle depth (EMD), 3.8mm fat and a shedding score of 5.
A second Kojak sire at $2600 was also knocked down to the Hall family which had a growth rate of 333.3g/day and a shedding score of 4.5.
The second highest price in the run was $2800 bid by Slab Hut Grazing for a ram with a 375.6g/day growth rate and a shedding score of 5.
Taking the volume buyer title in this section of the sale were return buyers John and Susan Gillam, Gillam Grazing, Cranbrook.
The Gillams, who like the Kojak breed for its easy-care, easy-doing, low maintenance and shedding traits, earned the award after purchasing 10 rams to a top of $2500 and an average of $2320.
Other stronger supporters in the run securing seven rams each were John and Jack South, who run a 1500-head Kojak ewe flock on a block away from their main farm due to the breed's easy-care characteristics and JK & SK O'Halloran, Kojonup.
There were three buyers which each took home five Kojak rams - Green Gables Pty Ltd, Kojonup ($2440 average); 5PH Grazing, Esperance ($2160 average) and GS & B Martin, Wickepin ($2220 average).
Prolific
Rounding out the sale was an increased offering of 108 Prolific sires and despite 14 extra rams being offered compared to last year, all sold to a high of $2600 on seven occasions and for an average of $1814, which was up $10 on the stud's 2019 result.
Having already purchased both Poll Dorset and Kojak sires John and Jack South were also keen to lay their hands on some Prolific rams and they were first to pay the $2700 breed high.
Along with taking home the first Prolific ram offered which had raw figures of 39.4kg WWT, 52.5kg PWWT, 338.2g/day growth rate, 25.4mm EMD, 3.0mm fat and wool fibre diameter of 23.3 microns, the Souths also purchased another four Prolifics to finish with five at a $2060 average.
Next to bid to $2600 was Brenton Hinkley, Gnowangerup, who finished with four Prolifics at an $1850 average.
He paid $2600 for a 21.7 micron ram with a 33.8kg WWT, 52.0kg PWWT, 371.6g/day growth rate, 24.5mm EMD and 2.8mm fat.
It was then the turn of Newby Bros Trust, Broomehill, which bid to $2600 twice for its team of eight that averaged $2288.
It paid $2600 for rams which had figures of 23.2 micron, 380.6g/day growth rate, 27.7mm EMD and 2.7mm fat and 24.5 micron, 436.4g/day growth rate, 27.2mm EMD and 2.3mm fat.
Also paying to $2600 was Victorian operation Hilsdon Farming, Hamilton, which secured four Prolifics at an average of $2525, while Magenta Estate, Kojonup, purchased five rams at an average of $2100 and to a top of $2600.
The Victorian operation's $2600 ram had figures of 20.9 micron, 379.1g/day growth rate, 26.7mm EMD and 2.4mm fat while the ram heading to the Kojonup operation had figures of 20.8 micron, 373.9g/day growth rate, 28.8mm EMD and 3.0mm fat.
Rounding out the buyers to pay to $2600 was Bill O'Keeffe, who collected another 13 Prolifics in addition to his $2600 purchase to finish with a team of 14 at an average of $1929.
Mr O'Keeffe paid $2600 for a 20.3 micron ram which had a 452.7g/day growth rate and scans of 26.7mm EMD and 3.2mm fat.
He will mate 1200 Merino ewes to Prolific rams this year up from his normal 500-600 head.
"We like the breed for its high fertility (high lambing percentages) and easy-care traits," Mr O'Keeffe said.
"We retain our first-cross Prolific-Merino ewe lambs and join them to Poll Dorset sires."
The volume buyer of the run was Nutrien Livestock Breeding representative Roy Addis who purchased 19 rams at a $1284 average for return buyers the Stokes family, B & M Stokes, Tammin.
