A SHED full of sound structured, ready to work rams were presented by nine stud breeders at the recent Dinninup Ram Sale where price reached a top of $1500 in a sale that provided mix results.
Despite a lengthy registration list of more than 40 potential buyers, bidding was very selective and both Elders auctioneer Graeme Curry and Westcoast Wool & Livestock auctioneer Steven Harris struggled at times to find a market for some of the quality rams on offer.
Two out of the four White Suffolk vendors achieved a complete clearance for their sires which helped boost the breeds clearance rate to 71 per cent and achieve the highest breed averaging of $1011.
The two Border Leicester studs sold 67pc of their offering and topped the sale at $1500, while the Merino and Poll Dorset breeds attracted little competition which disappointingly resulted in more than half of the rams being passed in under the hammer.
Elders stud stock prime lamb specialist Michael O'Neill said some vendors achieved a pleasing result and others did not achieve what they would have liked to.
"All sheep were presented ready to start working and the Border Leicester rams had a pleasingly result selling competitively on the back of the ewe market out of the East," Mr O'Neill said.
"Despite the quality of the Poll Dorsets being good, this didn't attract the same result as previous sales, while 71pc of the White Suffolk rams sold strongly and buyers appeared to appreciate the quality ones on offer.
"There was a lack of buyers support on the Merinos which unfortunately resulted in a 38pc clearance."
Mr Harris said all rams were well presented and he believed it was one of the better line-ups of rams at Dinninup.
"Buyers were clearly after a particular type and were selective in what they purchased today," Mr Harris said.
"However, it was pleasing to see half a dozen rams sell after the sale."
Moss Hill Farm Border Leicester stud, owned by Wendy Cochrane and Rob Ivey, accomplished sound results for their offering of 24 rams with lot 99 reaching the day's $1500 top price.
The 115kg stylish sire which carried ASBVs of 0.42 birthweight (BWT), 6.69 weaning weight (WWT), 10.9 post weaning weight (PWW), 0.17 fat and expressed a 147 Maternal dollar index was knocked down to new buyers Chris and Robyn Patmore, Riverbend Border Leicester stud, Eneabba.
Mr Patmore said this particular sire has been carefully selected to be joined to 200 Border Leicester stud ewes to breed rams to sell at their annual Prime Lamb and Dam sale and to join to their commercial Merino flock of 3000 ewes.
"We would normally buy our stud genetics from NSW, however due to travel restrictions we decided to support local and we knew Moss Hill Farm had a good reputation," Mr Patmore said.
"This big, robust sire was purchased for his overall appearance, great structure and wool type."
Merino
Once again, this year the sale opened with the only Merino sheep on offer, presented by regular vendor Jamann Corker, Silverdale stud, Boyup Brook.
Mr Corker had put together a team of eight white woolled rams, with three selling at auction to loyal client Brackenridge Grazing, Manjimup for $600 each.
These results reflected last year's, when four sires sold for the reserve price of $500 each.
White Suffolk
Catalogued next was the substantial offering of White Suffolk sires and kicking off this section of the sale were local producers Wayne and Robyn White, Blackwood stud, Dinninup.
The Whites captured the day's $1400 second top price when regular and return top price buyer Tristan Mead, TW & FL Mead, Dinninup, bought four deep-bodied sires, costing him $1400 on three separate occasions.
The initial team member weighed 147kg and had raw data figures of 52 millimetres of eye muscle depth (EMD) and 5mm of fat.
Mr Mead's, who has been a client of more than 10 years, bought the equal second top priced ram when is expressed an EMD of 47mm, a fat score of 7mm and weighted 139kg.
The remaining equal second top priced ram was found in lot 36 and weighed 141kg, with an EMD of 53 and a fat measurement of 8mm.
Mr Mead three rams were loaded on the back of his ute with one other which he secured at $1100 to use in a dedicated prime lamb producing flock based on F1 Prolific composite ewes.
"I have been purchasing from the stud since 2008 and the four rams I selected expressed plenty of length, great eye muscle and were standouts in my eyes," Mr Mead said.
"White Suffolks seem to perform well over my composite flock, with their progeny yielding great over the hooks.
Over the past nine-years Mr Mead has cemented a good relationship with his processor, Dardanup Butchering Company.
Boyup Brook producers DJ & RP Gibbs knew quality when they saw it and snapped up four lengthy Blackwood rams at a top of $1200 and at a supportive $1050 average.
Picking up a handy team of three at an $1033 average was Peter and Carolyn Reid, DP & MC Reid, Boyup Brook, while Gnowergerup Farms, Boyup Brook, paid for three sires at an average of $967.
Volume bidder was Elders Boyup Brook agent Peter Foster who bought five at an average of $980 on account of DR & MA Moffatt, Moonyoonooka, while Westcoast Wool & Livestock representative Brenton Tynan secured four rams at a $950 average on behalf of Rylington Park, Boyup Brook.
Paying $1000 for two Blackwood sires was Winnejup producer Guy Wardell-Johnson, while PG & DM Blechynden, Bridgetown got their hand on one for $1100.
At the end of the Blackwood stud's offering it had achieved a complete clearance for its 30 rams on offer at an average of $1032, up $107 on last years average when only 26 head sold.
Jim and Judy Maddams, Penwortham White Suffolk stud, Bridgetown, were back to offer eight paddock ready rams with unfortunately only two selling under the hammer for $800 each, compared to last year's sale results of five selling out of the 10 offered at a $800 average.
The two Penwortham sires were purchased by RW & PR Campbell, while the remaining eight were snapped up straight after the auction on behalf of the Campbell's and two other buyers.
Local producer AC Chapman & Sons were back again to swoop on Peter and Sue Samwell's line-up of 14 rams from Ironstone Ridge, Boyup Brook.
Being the only buyer during the Samwell's sale, the Chapmans were able to selectively bid for rams that best suited their needs and in doing so took home three at an average of $733.
This resulted in a disappointing clearance and average for the Samwells and it was far back on last year's much improved result.
New vendors to the sale Andrew, Anne and Harris Thompson, Venturon White Suffolk stud, Boyup Brook, had plenty to smile about when their six well-presented sires all sold under the hammer to a height of $1200 on three occasion and a healthy $1117 average.
First to snap up the 'burster,' as auctioneer Mr Curry voiced, was KA & LJ Chambers, Boyup Brook.
The Chambers selected this upstanding ram which weighed 134kg, expressed a 44mm EMD and 5.4mm fat for $1200, along with another at $1100.
CJ Walker & Co didn't leave empty handed and paid the equal $1200 top for 129kg youngster and $1000 for the one penned before it, while Mr Tynan bid to $1200 on account of Rylington Park and Gnowergerup Farms paid $1000 for a large framed ram.
Poll Dorset
Doug and Jan Corker, Waka Doo stud, Boyup Brook, were back again this year and presented seven specially selected sires which had plenty of thickness about them.
However, unfortunately the rams were overlooked on the day with no bids made during the auction.
Peter and Sue Samwell, Ironstone Ridge, also trucked in their team of 16 Poll Dorsets, with seven selling at auction to a top of $750 on two separate occasions and averaging $714.
This contributed to a slightly better result on last year when just five out of the 18 sires cleared at a $650 average.
Mr Mead was the only buyer of the Ironstone Ridge team and bought all seven rams during the sale on behalf of Kiralee.
The last of the Poll Dorset sires to be offered were from Jamann Corker, Corker stud, Boyup Brook.
Despite the quality of the sheep, potential buyers sat on their hands which resulted in all seven terminal sires being pass in under the hammer.
Border Leicester
It took until lot three for buyers to wake up to the quality that was before them in the Moss Hill Farms' offering of 24 well grown, stylish woolled rams.
When the sale ultimately came to an end, stud principals Wendy Cochrane and Rob Ivey not only achieved the $1500 top but realised the top average of $1038 for 14 out of the 24 sold.
This performance bettered their 2019 sale clearance when only 5 out of their team of 22 sold.
Paying $1300 on two occasions and putting together an impressive line-up was The Trustee for Drake Family Trust.
The operation secured four rams during the auction to a $1075 average, including one of its top purchasers which recorded a 1.54 PEMD in the top 5pc of the breed.
Volume client Three Brooks Farming, Bridgetown, took home five Border Leicesters at $920 average and paid a height of $1300, while located in the same area, GS & AE Karafilis paid $1000 and $900 for their two.
Loading two on the back of their ute were J G R & L Imrie, Boyup Brook and return buyers RA & A Shepard, Mt Barker.
The Imries averaged $850 for their duo and the Shepard's paid $800 for each.
The second Border Leicester stud to sell was Leicesterland owned by Jamann Corker which had support from two individual buyers.
The Shepards clearly liked what they saw in this impressive team of eight and went on to secure six of them at a top of $800 and a $733 average.
The Imries snapped up the remaining sire at the $700 reserve price to see seven Leicesterland rams sell under the hammer to a $729 average, up $29 on last year.