THERE was a slightly smaller offering at this year's Dinninup ram sale, when 126 quality rams were presented in the shed by eight studs.
Five breeds, being White Suffolks, Poll Dorsets, Border Leicesters, Suffolks and Merinos were offered to a list of 17 new and returning, local registered buyers and onlookers to view.
Broken down, the White Suffolk offering was made up by the Blackwood stud, Boyup Brook, Penwortham stud, Bridgetown, Ironstone Ridge, Kulikup, which also offered the entirety of the Poll Dorset line-up.
It was Moss Hill Farm, Balingup, and Leicesterland, Walliston, that made up the Border Leicester offering and the Karinya stud, Boyup Brook, that offered its Suffolk rams, followed by the Silverdale stud, Mayanup, which offered its Merino ram line-up.
By the end of the sale, vendors recorded an overall clearance of 54 per cent and a $960 average, which was down $226 on last year's sale average.
In the past few years, studs which have offered larger line-ups, have decided to hold their own on-property sales, affecting buyer support.
The quality of this year's rams, offered by each stud, was exceptional and even on all fronts and the sale's result was no doubt a reflection of the current sheep market conditions that WA producers have been experiencing in both current and recent times.
Elders, Boyup Brook agent Peter Forrest said the opening run of rams was excellent and sold well.
"From there on buyers were selective with their purchases, with some rams attracting little to no interest, even though the quality of the rams was good," Mr Forrest said.
White Suffolk
There were three vendors that offered rams in the White Suffolk line-up and it was the White family's Blackwood stud that again performed well, when it cleared all 50 of its rams to an average of $1022, followed by the Ironstone Ridge stud selling five of its six rams for an average of $800.
It was a well-rounded Blackwood stud ram that took out the sale's $1400 top-priced honours, when it was knocked down by Elders auctioneer Pearce Watling to Sue and Peter Samwell, PR & SJ Samwell, Ironstone Ridge stud.
The ram weighed 116 kilograms and had raw scans of 42mm eye muscle depth (EMD) and 4.5mm fat as well as a terminal carcase production (TCP) index of 145.8.
Mr Samwell said they had bought sires from the White family in the past.
"We were mainly selecting on figures, such as eye muscle depth, but overall the ram was very well put together and had good hindquarters and shoulders," Mr Samwell said.
The Samwells plan to use the ram over a mob of 30 maiden White Suffolk ewes in their stud.
Paying the second top price of $1300 for two Blackwood stud sires was TW & FL Mead, Dinninup.
The pair of rams weighed 104kg and 114kg and had TCP indexes of 144.8 and 143.5 respectively.
The Mead family purchased another seven rams during the sale to load up a team of nine rams on to their ute after the sale for an average of $1144.
Also a fan of the Blackwood genetics was Vandenberghe Partners, Esperance, which purchased 10 rams at an average of $920, while DP & MC Reid, Kojonup, took home eight rams for an average $1000.
Allawa Grazing Co, Kojonup and CP & Z Ednie-Brown, Kojonup, both purchased teams of six rams averaging $1100 and $967 respectively.
The Samwell family's Ironstone Ridge stud sold five rams in the sale from the six they offered all for $800 and they were all purchased by AC Chapman & Son, Boyup Brook.
Border Leicester
Moss Hill Farm stud, cleared 10 of its 30 quality Border Leicester stud rams offered for an average of $780.
It was a ram from pen 75 that was snapped up for the stud's highest price of $800 paid by J, G, R & L Imrie, Boyup Brook.
The ram weighed 100kg and had figures of 0.45 birthweight (BWT), 9.54 post weaning weight (PWWT), -0.34 post weaning eye muscle depth (PEMD), -0.33 post weaning fat (PFAT), 16.56 yearling greasy fleece weight (YGFW) and a Border Leicester cross (BLX) index of 114.
The Imrie family bought another four rams to finish with a team of five at an average of $820.
Boyup Brook account, Darke Family Trust, was also eager to secure the Moss Hill Farm genetics, purchasing four rams to an average of $750 and paid a high of $800, twice.
The two $800 rams had BLX indexes of 131 and 123 respectively.
RM & LJ Mauger, Mullalyup, also bought a Moss Hill ram for $700.
Suffolk
The Karinya stud offered a small, even line-up of eight stud sires, which resulted in three of them clearing under the hammer to an average of $800.
Two of the rams were picked up by RM & LJ Mauger, for $800 each.
The first ram that the Maugers picked up from pen 116 weighed 100kg and had figures of 0.49 BWT, 8.57 weaning weight (WWT), 14.13 PWWT, 0.48 PFAT, 1.79 PEMD, a TCP index of 140.89 and a lamb eating quality (LEQ) index of 141.80.
Their second ram weighed 96kg and had figures of 0.52 BWT, 9.35 WWT, 14.56 PWWT, -0.37 PFAT, 0.21 PEMD, a TCP index of 167.96 and an LEQ index of 141.23.
Picking up the final Karinya ram to sell was MS & PE Chambers, Dinninup and this ram weighed 108kg.
