Poll ram makes $14,000 at Moojepin sale at Katanning

With Moojepin's breeding philosophy to continually breed better sheep and it being well-known as an industry leader for the traits that it believes deliver profitability including early growth, muscle and fat, buyers came from far and wide to get their hands on the Moojepin genetics once again and they pushed prices to a high of $14,000.

From the opening lot, to the very last pen the 30 registered buyers at the sale from as far away as Victoria and New South Wales along with another 19 active bidders on AuctionsPlus, weren't afraid to bid strongly on the rams they wanted and as a result the Nutrien Livestock selling team led by auctioneer Michael Altus had little trouble finding new homes for the rams on offer.

When the final ram was knocked down by Mr Altus the stud had cleared 168 rams out of 173 offered at an average of $2549 and while the average was back $586 on last year, the number of rams sold was up 22 head to ensure a pleasing result for the Thompson family.

In comparison last year the stud sold to a record top price of $37,000 and achieved a record stud average of $3135 for the 146 rams sold from 150 offered.

Moojepin stud co-principal Hamish Thompson said they were very pleased with how the sale played out and the final result.

"We increased our offering this year to give buyers more rams to choose from and so they could buy our genetics at value for money and I think they could do that today," Mr Thompson said.

"It was good to see our clients willing to invest in their sheep genetics and sheep programs given the input prices and market outlooks for other agricultural enterprises.

"We were also very happy to see and have our Eastern States' clients back at the sale after the past two years where the borders had been closed and they couldn't attend.

"It was great to catch up and for them to see what we have been doing."

Equally as happy with the final sale result was Mr Altus who said it was another strong sale for the Thompson family and a testament to the family and what they were doing with the stud.

"They have concentrated strongly on those key production traits in their breeding program and their loyal and new clients are not afraid to pay good money for their rams," Mr Altus said.

"The Thompsons have clients that travel a long way to buy their rams because they believe in the genetics and are getting the results in the paddock which is a credit to the stud.

"Again today we saw a good turnout from repeat customers from all-around WA as well as the Eastern States and New Zealand.

"Not only did we see good buying support on the ground in the sale there was also plenty of action from buyers located in the Eastern States with 51 rams selling across the border by this platform."

The stud's international reputation was highlighted pre-sale when Mr Altus announced the stud had sold a $20,000 half-share in a stud reserve to Chile.

From there he got on with the sale and bidding was strong from the start.

But it wasn't until Mr Altus offered lot 33 that the buyers really pulled their hands out of their pockets.

After taking an opening bid of $2000 on the ram Mr Altus wasn't short of bids and he quickly added them up and in a blink of an eye the price had hit five figures.

Eventually bidding slowed and at $14,000 Mr Altus knocked the ram over to return buyer of more than 20 years Kane Page, KJ & RJ Page, Pingelly, who was at the sale with his partner Paula Morales and son Brock.

The twin-born, mid June 2021-drop ram is sired by Moojepin 190278.

It has Australian Sheep Breeding Values (ASBVs) of 6.71 post weaning weight (PWWT), 2.08 yearling eye muscle depth (YEMD), 1.49 yearling fat (YFAT), 22.42 yearling clean fleece weight (YCFW), 24.91 yearling staple length (YSL), 0.79 yearling fibre diameter (YFD), -2.14 yearling fibre diameter coefficient of variation (YFDCV), -6.28 yearling worm egg count (YWEC), 0.18 weaning rate (WR), 0.14 yearling conception (YCON), -0.69 early breech cover (EBCOV), -1.16 early breech wrinkle (EBWR), -0.28 late dag (LDAG) and 0.3 intramuscular fat (IMF).

With these figures it ranks in the top five per cent of the industry for YSL and EBWR, top 10pc for YFAT, YFDCV, EBCOV and IMF as well as top 20pc for PWWT, YEMD, WR and LDAG.

Mr Page said the ram was a top all round sire which was structurally very sound.

"He has a good clean fleece weight and late dag figures," Mr Page said.

"He suits what we need for our nucleus flock."

Along with the top-priced ram the Page family purchased a second sire which was also a twin that ranks in the top 5pc for PWWT, YSL, EBCOV and EBWR for $4000.

The Pages run a 700-head nucleus flock to breed rams for their own use.

Mr Page said Moojepin genetics had proven the test of time on their property.

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"We have been using them since the stud's inception and couldn't be happier with the results we are achieving," he said.

Those results include achieving a 120pc lambing for ewes joined this year and cutting good amounts of 18 to 19 micron wool every eight months.

Return buyers of 15 years the Forrester family, Glenkeith Grazing Co, Kojonup, secured the sale's $7500 second top-priced ram, among a team of nine which averaged $2861.

The $7500 ram was also located not far from the top-priced ram in lot 35 and was a June 2021-drop son of Moojepin 190780.

Buyer Sophie Wellstead said they chose the ram as it had good carcase traits and was visually sound.

The ram ranks in the top 5pc for PWWT, YEMD, YFAT, YSL, WR, EBCOV and EBWR as well as top 10pc for IMF.

Also in the team headed to Kojonup was a ram at $5000 which ranked in the top 5pc for YFAT, YSL, YFDCV, WR, YCON, EBCOV, EBWR, LDAG and IMF.

Ms Wellstead said they will use their top-priced purchase in their nucleus flock of 350 ewes to breed rams for their own use while their $5000 ram will be used over ewe lambs.

The Forrester family have continued to buy from Moojepin for 15 years, Ms Wellstead said because their line-up of rams each year was always consistent in type, which made it easy to buy from and because they provide reliable and accurate data.

"We also like the Moojepin genetics as they are good plain-bodied animals which is important to us as we are moving towards a non-mulesed flock in the coming years," Ms Wellstead said.

This coming season the enterprise will join 10,500 ewes to Merinos and 1500 Merino ewes to Suffolk sires for a mid-July lambing and will be hoping for a similar lambing percentage to this year which was 120pc for ewes joined.

Ms Wellstead said their aim was to sell their wether lambs off stubble in March to either lotfeeders or live export and as result they were always looking for rams with good PWWT figures.

The third top price was $7250 and it was paid by a South Australian buyer operating on AuctionsPlus.

Making $7250 was a twin-born, July 2021-drop ram which was sired by Moojepin 190066 and ranked in the top 5pc for YEMD, YFAT and IMF as well as top 10pc for PWWT, EBCOV and EBWR.

This ram was one of 14 which sold to five different buyers based in South Australia operating on AuctionsPlus.

But it wasn't only buyers from South Australia which purchased through the AuctionsPlus system.

Five buyers from NSW purchased 21 rams, while four Victorian buyers secured 16 rams and one WA buyer collected two rams.

All up 53 rams sold through the online platform for between $1000 and $7250 for a $2788 average.

For a second year running the volume buyer title went to David Meyer, The Meyer Trading Trust, Broomehill, who has been buying from the stud for 20 years, when he purchased 13 sires to a top of $4500 and an average of $2827.

He paid $4500 for a ram that ranks in the top 5pc for YEMD, YFAT, YSL, EBCOV and EBWR.

Also headed to Mr Meyer's Broomehill paddocks was a ram at $2500 which held significant importance to both him and the Thompson family as the proceeds from this ram were being donated by the Thompson family to local shearer Corey Bolt, who was diagnosed with a brain tumor earlier in the year and his family.

Mr Bolt used to shear at the Thompsons property as well as Mr Meyer's place.

Mr Meyer, who will join 3000 ewes to Moojepin rams this season, said he likes the carcase and fertility traits as well as the growth rates you get from the Moojepin genetics.

"They also have good overall consistency in the line-up of rams they offer," Mr Meyer said.

This year the Meyer family's flock achieved a 118pc lambing percentage for ewes joined while their mature ewes average 20 micron and cut about 4.5kg of wool every nine months.

When it comes to his wether lambs Mr Meyer said they aim to turn them off to abattoirs at six to seven months old at about 45-48kg liveweight as they were looking for a 22.5kg carcase.

"We wean them on to prepared pastures and then sell them off the stubbles in January and February," he said.

"This year we averaged $170 a head for 1500 wether lambs."

The next biggest buyers were Bob and Heather Reed, RJ & HLS Reed, Mt Horwick, who were only buying from the stud for a second time, after having previously purchased from an MPM stud in Victoria.

After buying eight rams last year, the Reeds this year purchased 11 to a top of $3750 and an average of $2023.

Mr Reed said they made the change as COVID in the past couple years had made it hard for them to get Victoria to buy and the Moojepin rams were just as good.

In the sale the Reeds were chasing rams with above average clean fleece weights as they had previously focused on carcase and growth traits.

Rounding out the buyers at the sale which secured double figure teams was FR & P Kilpartick, Beverley, which purchased 10 rams at an average of $1150 and to a top of $1500.

Other strong supporters of the offering were BC Hardie & Co, Wandering, which averaged $2344 over a team of eight, while Westendale Grazing Co, Arthur River, purchased seven at an average of $2500.

There were four Eastern States buyers at the sale which purchased and the most influential of these included JR & PG Gordon, Kaniva, which averaged $2875 over a team of four, while Outback MPM, The Marra, NSW, purchased two at $4500 and $3500 and SV & MA Start, Crowlands, Victoria, averaged $4250 for two rams.

Also in the sale seven lines of Moojepin blood, rising 1.5yo ewes were offered by the Thompson family and clients.

The Thompsons line of 216 head sold at $216 to a Victorian AuctionsPlus buyer while two lines both containing 325 head offered by Slabhut Grazing, Tunney, sold at $220 to a AuctionsPlus buyer from WA.

Victorian clients JR & PG Gordon offered two lines of ewes and both were purchased by VM Austin, Kaniva, Victoria.

The first line of 102 head sold at $250 while the second line of 103 head made $220.