On Property Ram Sale
Thursday 7th of September 2023
120 Poll Merino Rams
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2023 Annual Ram Sale
Mother Nature herself couldn’t slow the spirited bidding at the 2023 East Loddon ram sale held on Thursday September 7th.
Held at the alternative wet weather venue “Cooneen” North of Boorooban due to the expected wet weather, the sale achieved a 100% clearance of the 115 Merino rams offered selling to a top of $5500 and average $2113.
The sale was briefly interrupted by a severe storm blowing through during proceedings, and a great joint effort by all and sundry to help secure anything loose ensured damage was minimised.
Top price was $5500 for lot 31 sired by a Merryanbone North ram. His figures of 17.7 micron with an elite CV of 14.6 and SD of 2.6 made him a natural target for spirited bidding.
Winning bidders were Travis and Lynette Fernandes of Winjallok Victoria via AWN agent Jacob Davies at Stawell to go into a flock of 2500 commercial ewes.
Mr Fernandes said “We’re looking for a quick growing type with a great micron and he hit the mark. We’re shearing every 6 months and his free growing staple length and well nourished skin made this ram a perfect choice for us” Mr Fernandes went on to add “We look for the ability to breed a sheep with a good body too, for the supplementary meat trade, plus we know East Loddon have great feet and can stand up to our climate”.
The Fernandes family have been clients of East Loddon for 20 years
Tom Hooke, East Loddon Principal said “We’re really happy with the total clearance for the sale. Our repeat buyers supported us well, but we can also see a few new faces here too. We know conditions are a bit challenging at the moment and this level of support is an indication we’re heading in the right direction. This was especially evident with the number of buyers with Non-Muelsed Merino flocks looking for rams.”
2021 Annual Ram Sale
East Loddon would like to thank all clients on making the 2021 sale a huge success. 60/60 rams sold rams sold in the main auction for an average of $3,913 and to a top of $6,800 for lot 7. 30/30 sold in the mini auction for a $1906 average.
Total clearance to all 90 rams for a $3,244 average.
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- Top priced ram. Lot 7 sold to Stephen Barnes of Finley NSW for $6,800.
2019 Annual Ram Sale
2019 saw the studs first sale being a huge success. A huge thank you to all who have supported the stud in 2019.
For their first on-property Merino ram sale, brothers Tom and Marcus Hooke, East Loddon Merinos, Wanganella, penned 60 April-shorn, June 2018 drop rams for a top price of $5750. The sale realised 56 of 60 rams sold for an overall average price of $1933.
First time buyer at East Loddon, Stewart Warner, Beechworth, bought the top priced ram, which he said would be used in an AI program along with being naturally mated. Mr Warner was attracted to the son of Richmond 160110 for his great figures supported by a good conformation.
“I liked his growth rate, muscle and fat with clean fleece weight,” he said.
“They are the priority in my breeding program.”
However, Mr Warner said the wool also needed to be right to handle his 700 millimetre plus annual rainfall.
The ram had the figures of 10.8 yearling weight, 0.9 yearling fat, 1.5 yearling eye muscle depth and 12.1 yearling staple length. His fleece had the measurement of 21.8 micron, 13.8 coefficient of variation and 99.2 per cent comfort factor.
Mr Warner joins 1500 Merino ewes and with a lambing in September/October, he marks about 110 per cent to ewes joined. He sells his shorn wethers before they are 12 months old and has not mulesed his sheep since 2007. Other good sales included one at $5250 bought by Hynam Ag Pty Ltd, Longwood, Victoria, one at $5000 bought by Mark Kerin, Yeoval, and one at $5000 bought by R.F and W.J Allen, Byawatha, Vic.
D and K Schilg Partnership, Brocklesby added to their sire battery with four rams to top of $4500 and average price $3437.
Their top priced ram, a son of Richmond 160110 had the figures of 11.3 YWT, 0.7 YFAT, 2.1 YEMD, 2.0 YCFW and 12.8 YSL with a fleece which measured 19.4 micron with 99.7pc comfort factor.
Return buyers Ian and Stacey Lugsdin, Hay, purchased six rams to top of $4000 with overall average of $1792. For their country north of Hay, Mrs Lugsdin said they were looking for future sires with fat and eye muscle depth.
“They are very important traits if we are going to run ewes which will give us a good lambing through tough seasons,” she said.
Their flock already had good yearling weight and staple length, but she said they still pay attention to those productive characteristics.
“We like to get staple length with our aim of shearing twice a year,” she said.
At present they are shearing each eight months.
A significant purchase made over the phone was the $3500 paid by the Barooga Stud, Williams, Western Australia, for a son of Richmond 160110. His measurements of 12.7 YWT, 1.0 YFAT, 2.7 YEMD. 21 YCFW and 8.9 YSL complimented a fleece with 21.3 microns and 98pc comfort factor. Another sale at $3500 was made when J.S Barnes and Company, Finley, purchased their choice of the draft.
The son of Karbullah 155076 had the impressive figures of 5.4 YWT, 0.4 YFAT, 0.4 YEMD, 18 YCFW and 9.4 YSL and carrying a fleece measuring 17.5 micron and 99.6pc comfort factor. After the sale, Marcus Hooke said he and Tom were “very pleased with result”.
“We had a lot of repeat clients and they were supported by many new faces,” he said. “The sheep have done very well coming through a tough season.”
The sale was settled by Landmark studstock with auctioneer Peter Godbolt sharing gavel duties with Nick Gray, Elders, Jerilderie.
The Land
– Stephen Burns
See you at the following events:
16th-18th
July
Aus Sheep & Wool Show
Bendigo, Vic
6th - 7th
August
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Hamilton, Vic
29th
August
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Harden, NSW
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7th
September
Ram Sale
On Property - "Warwillah"