NEW and returning clients were in attendance at the 20th annual Albany Prime Sire sale where 104 prime lamb sires were on show at the Centennial Oval sheep pavilion.
Buyers had the choice of three different breeds including White Suffolks, Poll Dorsets and South Suffolks that were offered by three studs, Millinup, Bradstock and Wayandah.
In what has been a tough year for ram sales, values were down on all fronts in terms of clearance, gross and average compared to the 2019 sale.
This year's total offering and clearance were both down from the 2019 sale when 118 were offered and 115 sold, with this year 104 being offered and 58 selling under the hammer.
The overall gross fell $58,050 and the average was down $48 compared to last year's sale figures.
On a positive note, prices peaked at $2050, exceeding last year's top of $1400 and was paid by GJ & LJ Hicks, Napier, for a White Suffolk ram offered by John Stephenson, Millinup stud, Porongurup.
Elders once again hosted the sale with Clarke Skinner auctioneering.
Struggling to draw bids towards the back of the catalogue, Mr Skinner traversed the offering, finishing with 46 passed in lots.
Millinup White Suffolk
First to sell on the day was Millinup White Suffolks, Porongurup, which presented 80 rams, equalling last year's offering.
The sale started off strong but competition dropped off towards the end of the catalogue, resulting in 31 lots being passed in at auction.
Despite the lack of competition during the sale, negotiations continued after the auction with all of the remaining rams selling for 100 per cent clearance.
Early on buyers pushed values to the sale's top of $2050, with the lot three ram being sold to GJ & LJ Hicks, Napier.
The 111kg ram had figures of 54mm eye muscle depth (EMD), 104mm eye muscle width (EMW) and 43.24mm2 eye muscle area (EMA).
GP Ayres & Son, Bornholm, was the volume buyer for a second consecutive year, purchasing 17 rams at a high of $1250 for an average of $1000.
Local buyer LN & JP Black, Emu Point, secured a total of six rams averaging $775, while Cambellup Pastoral & Co, Mt Barker, also built a team of six, paying $1000 a head.
Picking up a set of four rams each was GM Howard & Son, EF & JM Rogister, Elders Cranbrook and TD Robinson averaging $1013, $838, $838 and $813 respectively.
Rumbalara Pastoral Co bought a tidy team of three rams for $800 apiece.
Mr Stephenson said he was happy with how the start of the sale went and despite the number of passed-in lots, remains positive for next year's sale.
"The sale started out strong but towards the end began to drop off," Mr Stephenson said.
"I expected a tough sale due to the seasonal conditions and with a lot of sheep going east."
Having sold the remaining lots Mr Stephenson said he was pleased with the final outcome.
Wayandah White Suffolk
It was then straight into the Hicks family's Wayandah stud White Suffolk offering of six rams.
With dwindling buyer competition just two rams sold under the hammer grossing $1500.
MJE Grazing was first to take a ram paying $700, with Rumbalara Pastoral Co, Takalarup, buying the other at the top-price of $800.
Bradstock Poll Dorset
When it came to the Churly family's offering of 12 Poll Dorsets, there was slightly more competition with five being sold under the hammer for an average of $880.
Paying the top price of $1500 was SA & DM Maddams, Denmark.
Next to buy a ram was Jai R Newman, Denbarker, who bought one ram at $800.
MJE Grazing purchased the other three rams paying $700 per head.
Wayandah Poll Dorset
The Hicks family also offered four Poll Dorset rams but failed to sell any during the sale.
Wayandah South Suffolk
Wayandah added a new breed to their offering this year, putting two South Suffolk rams up for sale.
MJE Grazing continued their support of the sale purchasing both rams offered at $700 each.
Elders auctioneer Clarke Skinner said it was a tough sale, but the vendors put up a high-quality line-up and would like to thank the buyers who secured some very good rams.
"The situation over east gives vendors the opportunity to sell their rams over there for higher prices and allows WA buyers to fill orders at a lower price compared to Eastern States' buyers.
"AuctionsPlus also helped provide a bit of competition throughout.
"Buyers should consider buying next year's rams now as numbers will begin to dwindle," Mr Skinner said.