THE Bencubbin ram shed was a hive of activity when the Shirlee Downs stud, Quairading and the Wendenlea stud, Boddington, held a combined ram sale after purchasing the White Suffolk and Suffolk flocks respectively from the Blackbutt stud.
Both studs recently offered a quality line-up of rams which was supported by buyers from not only the local Bencubbin area, but also as far away as Gnowangerup.
Combined, the two studs offered 82 White Suffolk, Suffolk and Prime SAMM sires and when the final ram was knocked down by Elders auctioneer Graeme Curry, the 10 registered buyers had cleared 45 of the 82 rams that were offered at an average of $736 and to a top of $1400 for a White Suffolk sire.
Elders stud stock prime lamb specialist Michael O'Neill said the sale's outcome was very positive.
"The quality of the rams was excellent, they were presented ready to join the ewes," Mr O'Neill said.
"Buyers were really getting value for money on both vendors' rams.
"A lack of buyer support was the main reason why all of the rams weren't cleared, but there was great support in the White Suffolks.
"Although the buyer support at the sale was mostly local, there were a few buyers active from as far south as Gnowangerup."
MORE RAM SALE NEWS:
The Squiers family, Shirlee Downs stud, Quairading, offered 40 White Suffolk rams and sold 26 under the hammer to a top of $1400 and an average of $873.
They also offered 12 Prime SAMM rams that unfortunately attracted no action from buyers during the auction.
The tone for the sale was set early in the Shirlee Downs offering when the sale's $1400 top-priced ram sold from the 11th pen.
After some spritely bidding on the ram, it was knocked down to Des Tillbrook, CA & DA Tillbrook, Tammin.
The 81.5 kilogram had scans of 37.5mm eye ram muscle depth (EMD) and 3.5mm fat to go with Australian Sheep Breeding Values (ASBVs) of 0.30 birthweight (BWT), 10.0 weaning weight (WWT), 15.4 post weaning weight (PWWT), 2.1 post weaning eye muscle depth (PEDM) and a TCP index of 139.71.
Mr Tillbrook also secured the second and third top-priced rams in the White Suffolk offering, paying $1350 and $1200.
The $1350 ram weighed in at 73kg with scans of 35mm EMD and 2.9mm fat.
It has ASBVs of 0.42 BWT, 11.0 WWT, 17.3 PWWT, 1.5 PEDM and a TCP index of 140.29.
Another strong buyer in the Shirlee Downs White Suffolk offering was the Stratford family, GE & LD Stratford, Dowerin, securing a team of seven rams to a top price of $1000 and an average of $843.
Two other buyers taking home teams of five and four rams from the Shirlee Downs run were Newcourt Farms, Trayning, averaging $810 and AE & KM Spark, Dowerin, averaging $800.
Rounding out the Shirlee Downs buyers was the Nicholls Family Trust and FO & PM House, Gnowangerup, which both bought teams of three rams, at $800 a head.
The Foster family, Wendenlea stud, Boddington, offered 30 Suffolk rams and sold 19 under the hammer at an average of $547 and a top price of $750.
The Wendenlea stud's top-priced ram sold for $750 to the Sadler Family Trust.
Bindi Bindi farmers, IP Turner & Co, secured a team of seven rams in the Suffolk offering to a top of $700 and averaging $543.
Deluis & Son, Narembeen, purchased three Suffolk rams for their enterprise to a top of $600, averaging $550 while Prettysoon Farming rounded out the buyers with a purchase of three Suffolk rams at an average of $500.
