Astute commercial buying support delivered an emphatic result to be among the sales of the season at the Wiringa Park Poll Merino stud's annual on-property ram sale held at Nyabing last week.
Amid challenging times for Western Australian sheep producers, the Hobley family has presented a staunch positive front approaching this spring - and its commercial clients followed suit, competing strongly from start to finish to replenish their ram batteries for future years.
The majority of sheep studs this year haven't avoided some level of impact from market and seasonal conditions and the Hobleys were no different, with a couple of previous buyers not attending and some shortened ram requirements.
Buoyed by recent rainfalls, a string of new faces and determined buying from their loyal and newer following helped fill the void and seal a massive result for the stud.
The Hobleys maintained their sale team numbers from last year with a quality catalogue of 200 Poll Merino rams, which continues to grow in evenness with this year being no exception.
The extensively measured, DNA parentage tested sire confirmed, March and May-shorn rams reflect the family's investment and dedication to the sheep and wool industry.
Nutrien Livestock auctioneer Mark Warren had his work cut out for him with sustained bidding fired back at him through to the final lot.
At the completion of selling, the Nutrien Livestock team had sold 191 rams (96 per cent of the offering) under the hammer to gross $528,000 at an impressive average of $2764.
This was an accurate reflection of values, with commercial rams selling anywhere from $800 to $5300 and allowing buyers to fill orders across varying budgets.
Overall values bucked the general trend seen this season to date to be $122 up on average compared to last year's sale where 194 of 200 (97pc) sold at auction for an average of $2642.
It was also reported that within minutes of the sale ending, all nine overlooked rams at auction had found new homes to complete a 100pc clearance.
The fantastic sale result caps off an outstanding year for the Hobley family after selling several high-priced rams to Eastern States' studs at the Australian Sheep & Wool Show, Bendigo, Victoria - including what is firmly believed to be a WA record price of $70,000 for a Poll Merino ram to the Lachlan stud, Forbes, New South Wales.
In his sale opening address, Wiringa Park stud principal Allan Hobley said it wasn't the easiest 36 hours leading up to the ram sale - with an extended power outage and strong winds - but he appreciated everyone's efforts and support.
"I know we are going through a bit of a patch now, a bit like the West Coast Eagles, a blip on the radar - but (things will) be back bigger than ever pretty soon," Mr Hobley said.
"We won't be backing off here and resting on our laurels, it's full steam ahead and you can rest assured that no stone will be left unturned in making sure we supply the absolute best product we can."
Mr Warren echoed these comments and encouraged producers to best position themselves for when things improve.
"It's a bit of a tight time in the livestock industry at the moment, but you can guarantee it's going to turn around pretty quickly and the number one thing producers can do is stick to form and quality - and Wiringa Park is the right place to be," Mr Warren said.
"The Hobley family is strongly invested in their stud and is only going to get bigger and even better."
Buyers responded from the outset, with sale team leader WP 'Prince Edward' 220497 knocked down for the sale's $9800 top price to the Hull family's Minta stud, Mt Cooper, South Australia.
Prince Edward is an AI-bred half brother to the $70,000 ram 'King Charles' 220450 both being sired by WP 'Prince Philip' 200037 which sold for $40,000 to the Woodyarrup and Pyramid Polls studs in 2021.
The 129kg March shorn ram was out of ewe WP 190815 and displayed August wool tests of 19.2-micron, 2.7 standard deviation (SD), 14.3 coefficient of variation of fibre diameter (CV), 99.8 per cent comfort factor (CF) and 3.3kg greasy fleece weight (GFW - March 14) with its September analysis Australian Sheep Breeding Values (ASBVs) equally impressive as its shop front.
It ranked in the top 1 per cent for MP+ 202.99, top 5pc YCFW 37.43, top 10pc DP+ 197.2 and top 20pc for YWT 9.94 and YFD -2.31, while also recording 7.66 PWWT, -0.99 YEMD and -0.92 YFAT.
Mitchell Crosby, Nutrien Livestock Breeding, represented the buyer at the sale and said the Hulls had used 'Prince Philip' in their stud previously and saw their latest sire acquisition in the flesh at Bendigo, Victoria.
New buyer Ian King and his daughter Katelyn, IR & SF King, Hollands Rocks, attended their first Wiringa Park sale and weren't afraid to raise their sights on selections.
The King family finished the sale with five rams at a healthy average of $4420 and included the sale's $5300 second top price paid deep into the catalogue in lot 121.
The 103kg May shorn ram was another 'Prince Philip' son with wool tests of 19.3-micron, 3.5 SD, 18.4 CV, 99.7pc CF and 4.4kg GFW (April 28) with ASBVs in the top 5pc YCFW 33.1 and top 20pc MP+ 178.66 along with 179.3 DP+, 3.8 PWT, 4.49 YWT, -0.18 YEMD, -1.02 YFAT and -0.79 YFD.
The Kings also paid $5000 for lot 167 and $4700 for lot 110 which were also sons of 'Prince Philip'.
The Kings were previously long-time buyers at the now dispersed Leovale stud, Lake Grace, and Mr King said they were happy with the selection at Wiringa Park.
"They are similar wools to what we are used to and we selected on structure and bold crimpy wool," he said.
The Kings will join 1800 ewes and Mr King said they would "stick to what they've been doing" with their sheep enterprise - helping to mitigate risks associated with high cropping inputs.
Third-year buyers Redhill Farming Estate, Pingrup, not only built a significant team of 14 rams by the end of the sale, but did so at the top of the market - averaging a healthy $3929 across the team.
They also included the next highest priced ram of $5200, again arising toward the back end of the sale in lot 168 with Prince Philip again featuring in the breeding.
The 114.5kg ram recorded exceptional data ranking in the top 1pc for MP + 206.96, DP+ 215.5 and YCFW 38.66 along with top 5pc YWT 12.58 and top 10pc PWT 9.87.
They also paid $5000 for another high indexing, growth and fleece weight ranking 118kg Prince Philip son in lot 71.
Buyer Simon Thomas said Wiringa Park had the right traits they were looking for to keep improving their Merinos.
"We don't compromise on structure, we have size and soundness in our flock and we are pushing for better nourished wools," he said.
Redhill Farming Estate comprises two thirds cropping and one third livestock and Mr Thomas said they looking at maintaining their Merino mating numbers of 6000 ewes in the forthcoming joining, but reducing their older ewe matings to terminal sires to 2500 ewes to free-up space in the event they have to carry any store stock through to avoid the current depleted store market.
A couple of other buyers bid to $5000 for their selections.
KA & LJ Chambers, Kulikup, finished with a team of four rams with their top bid going to lot 115 containing a 106.5kg Prince Philip son testing 18.2-micron, 2.8 SD, 15.4 CV, 99.9pc CF and ASBVs in the top 5pc for MP+ 197.56, DP+ 204.4 and YCFW.
Williams graziers SJ & BJ Schulz plucked their $5000 selection from the opening run of 22 March shorn rams in lot four, another Prince Philip son with a strong spread of figures including top 10pc YCFW.
Some other higher values paid included return top-end buyers PS Climie & Co, Cranbrook, with five rams averaging $4180 and costing to a top of $4900, fellow return buyers SR & TL Stutley, Gnowangerup, also collected five rams to a $4900 top price and the Canowie Fields stud, Gairdner, paid $4700 for a new sire by Moorundie Poll M-388 penned in lot 24.
Consistent buyers of big numbers BM Mills & Co, Corrigin, went to script with a haul of 18 rams to be the sale's volume account - costing an average of $2306 and to a top of $3100, followed by other sale regulars the Beeck family, Glenorchy Estate, Gnowangerup, with 16 rams at a strong average of $3200 and to a $4200 top price.
Other buyers of bigger numbers included Nanda Downs, Nyabing, 12 rams; MK & M Peakall, Amelup, 10 rams; RA Mills & Co, Brookton, 10 rams; Monalta Grazing Co, Katanning, nine rams; Dyliabing Farms, Katanning, eight rams; Briarleigh Farming, Nyabing, seven rams and ST & KN Garard, Pingaring, seven rams.
