THE interest in shedding breeds was again on show for all to see in last week's Nutrien Livestock Maternal Ewe Sale on AuctionsPlus, where strong demand pushed prices to a high of $554 for 1.5-year-old UltraWhite ewes.
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Twenty bidders from WA and also the Eastern States were active in the online sale which featured 6092 ewes that were offered in 27 lines.
Right through the hour and a half sale the competition was strong, with 402 bids being placed and this resulted in 21 lines selling to 12 different WA buyers plus a New South Wales buyer and a South Australian buyer.
By the conclusion of the sale the 21 lines sold, totalling 4257 ewes, had sold for an average of $328, back from the $384 average achieved in the company's October sale.
Broken down, 3081 UltraWhite mature ewes and ewes lambs sold at an average of $367, while 875 Kojak cross ewe lambs averaged $227 and 301 White Dorper mature ewes and ewe lambs sold for a $223 average.
The UltraWhite ewe and ewe lamb offering not only made up the majority of the ewes on offer but it was also the section in which the sale's $554 top price was recorded.
Achieving the $554 top price was a line of 50 commercial 1.5yo UltraWhite ewes offered by the Bradford family, Hillcroft Farms UltraWhite stud, Popanyinning, when it sold to a South Australian buyer based at Naracoorte.
The genuine line of elite commercial ewes had an average bodyweight of 67.9 kilograms and 90 per cent of the ewes in the line were clean shedders.
This same South Australian buyer picked up a second genuine line of 1.5yo UltraWhite ewes from the Bradford family's offering.
This time it paid the equal second top price of $552 for a draft of 189 ewes which averaged 64.6kg.
The other line of ewes to make $552 was also from the Bradford family's offering and consisted of 102 1.5yo UltraWhite ewes averaging 67.7kg.
This line was sold to an Upper Great Southern buyer.
The Bradfords also sold two other lines of 1.5yo UltraWhite ewes and both lines were made-up of 200 head and they sold at $502 and $500 to two other Upper Great Southern buyers.
The buyer which went to $502 for its purchase also purchased another line of UltraWhite ewes out of the catalogue.
This time it paid $442 for a draft of 149 Hillcroft Farms blood, 11 to 15-month-old ewes from Bowey Ventures, Kulin.
Rounding out the mature UltraWhite ewes sold in the sale was a draft of 171 Hillcroft Farms blood 2-5yo ewes from JG & KM MacDonald, Cowaramup.
The draft sold at $300 to a Great Southern based buyer.
All up 1061 UltraWhite ewes sold in the sale for an average of $477.
There were 11 lines of UltraWhite ewe lambs offered and nine of them (2020 head) sold during the sale duration for an average of $309.
The highest price achieved for these lines was $414 for a 100 April-drop ewe lambs based on Hillcroft Farms bloodlines and averaging 56.2kg from JP & JL Broun, Chocolate Hills, Beverley.
The line was purchased by a Great Southern-based buyer.
The Hoggart family, Hoggart Family Trust, Condingup, was the largest vendor in the UltraWhite ewe lamb section offering 1604 ewes lambs in six lines.
The June/July-drop lambs are based on Hillcroft Farms bloodlines and averaged 43kg.
They sold for between $302 and a top of $306 for two lines.
A Dandaragan buyer paid $306 for a line of 278 head while a New South Wales buyer from Illabo went to $306 for a draft of 262 head and also picked a second draft of 262 head at $302.
The three other lines of ewes lambs from the Hoggart family which consisted of 278, 262 and 262 head all sold at $302 to an Upper Great Southern buyer.
Wickepin-based TKW Leeson sold 236 Hillcroft Farms blood, May/June-drop UltraWhite ewe lambs for $310, while JG & KM MacDonald sold 80 July/August-drop, Hillcroft Farms UltraWhite ewe lambs for $300.
The O'Halloran family, JR & SH O'Halloran, Kojonup, which has been breeding shedding sheep for 20 years, sold two lines of June/July-drop Kojak cross ewes lambs.
The lines which contained 285 head and 290 head comprised 50 per cent Kojak-White Dorper ewes and 50pc Kojak-Australian White ewes.
Both lines sold at $230 to a Great Southern buyer.
A line of 300 Kojak-UltraWhite cross, May/June-drop ewe lambs from GS & B Martin, Wickepin, made $220 selling to a Great Southern buyer.
Rounding out the ewes to sell were two genuine lines of White Dorper ewes from Tomlinson Agriculture, Boxwood Hill, which has been breeding White Dorpers for 10 years.
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The Boxwood Hill enterprise sold 176 1.5-4.5yo ewes averaging 63.2kg for $236 and 125 5-11mo ewe lambs averaging 42kg for $204.
The mature ewes went to a Great Southern buyer while the ewe lambs headed to the Mid West.
What the agent said:
NUTRIEN Livestock Breeding representative and sale co-ordinator Roy Addis said it was another very strong sale result for the shedding breeds and a positive result for the company's first December maternal ewe sale.
"The final result was on par with presale expectations and the strong support seen for the shedding breeds in our late October sale flowed through into this sale," Mr Addis said.
"There continues to be strong demand for shedding ewes and the industry is going from strength to strength.
"In this sale we saw strong competition and interest from bidders from right across Australia with more than 3000 catalogue views on AuctionsPlus and 77 users logged in during the sale of which 20 were active bidders.
"The ewes on offer were of very high quality and provide a great opportunity for producers looking to enhance their commercial enterprise with quality shedding ewes.
"To sell more than 4200 ewes at an average of $328 is a great result and a credit to the breeders who offered sheep in the sale."
