The top-priced ram at today’s Ballarat ram sale will help a Gippsland specialist fine wool producer rebuild his flock after it was devastated by bushfire in 2011.
Neil Collins, Yarram, made one purchase to secure a Merryville ram, tag A20604, for $4750.
“I came up to Ballarat specifically to buy a ram like that; which has excellent measurements, is well structured and has a tremendous amount of that high quality wool,” Mr Collins said.
The August 2013 drop ram was sired by Brilliant Monarch Super 9th that won grand champion superfine ram at the Sydney Royal Easter Show in 2011.
Its wool measured 17.2-micron, had a standard deviation (SD) of 2.2, a co-efficient of variation (CV) of 12.8 and a comfort factor of 100.
Mr Collins is a long-term client of the Merriman family’s Merryville stud, and said the young sire would help to rebuild his commercial wool operation of about 3000 superfine Merinos.
“In 2011 bushfire lost a lot of sheep including young superfine stud so I’m trying to rebuild the depleted numbers,” he said.
Merryville co-principal Wal Merriman, Boorowa, NSW, said the top-priced ram had a very good micron and brilliant crimp. Merryville sold seven of eight rams offered, average $2786.
The only other ram to break the $4000 mark was a Glenpaen, Brimpaen, July 2013 drop ram. It was the sole purchase of Frank Byrne, Panorama Poll Merino stud, Borung, who paid $4500 to secure the 16.6M ram.
Glenpaen had the strongest av at $4125 for the two rams it sold.
Ballarat ram sale committee chairman John Molesworth said in the wash-up 33 of 41 rams sold, av $2085, which was a similar result to last year.
“It was tough enough, but most of the vendors realised that would be the case and were happy to meet the market,” Mr Molesworth said.
“Fine and superfine parts of the market are doing it tough, but everything in agriculture has its turn [of higher prices] and if the Australian dollar keeps going down, it will help out the rural industries.”
Many of the rams sold to flocks in Central Victoria and the Western District; with the Barber family, Glenisla, taking home the most rams by buying four Demondrille rams from Harden, NSW, av $2125.
Select pens went further afield, including two Merryville rams that were purchased by R&C Westmore of Tasmania, and another that went to Matangi Station of New Zealand.
