THE Garnett SheepMaster stud, Albany, this week announced the sale of 30 special stud ewes lambs to three Eastern States' producers for an average price of $5000 a head.
Elders WA shedding sheep specialist and Garnett SheepMaster stud classer Andrew Hodgson, transacted the sales to the three breeders, during an extensive recent visit to the east.
Two of the buyers are highly respected and successful Merino studs in New South Wales and South Australia - Graham and Susan Coddington, Coddington SheepMaster stud, Geurie, New South Wales and Heather and John Dalla, Orrie Cowie Genetics, Warooka, South Australia.
The third buyer, Ian, Denise and James Porter run the successful Westleigh White Suffolk and SheepMaster stud at Lake Wongan, Victoria.
The Porters purchased the ewes after being delighted with their AI program using semen from SheepMaster's Gold Standard Monarch.
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These ewe lambs will be the foundation ewes, used for embryo transfer collection programs in the three new SheepMaster studs.
Founding breeder of SheepMaster Neil Garnett said all three studs were respected and successful breeders in the Australian sheep industry.
"These astute buyers chose to establish major SheepMaster studs after studying the shedding sheep industry," Mr Garnett said.
"In SheepMaster, they have found fertility and maternal traits, sound feet with big long body structures and, most importantly, totally clean shedding capacity."
Mr Garnett, who is also a former owner of Collinsville Merino stud, South Australia, was very happy with the sales and said he had never sold top of the drop ewes in his 55-year career in the sheep breeding industry.
"The demand for totally shedding sheep across Australia and New Zealand is remarkable and is a trend that will continue to grow," he said.
"This is changing the profile of the sheep breeding flock in Australia, which is driven by the lack of shearers and labour costs."
Dick Smith Transport from Dubbo, NSW, delivered the ewes to the three studs this week.
