Rams to $22,000 at Sheepvention

According to Landmark auctioneer Andrew Sloane the sale was “very strong”, and set a positive tone leading into the start of on-property ram sale season.

Pemcaw’s grand champion Poll Merino ram from the Australian Sheep & Wool Show topped the ledger at $22,000.

The Dunedoo, NSW, bred ram was snapped up by a syndicate of Victorian and NSW fine wool studs.

Robert Plush, Kerrsville, Coleraine was the syndicate’s major shareholder; with Melrose, Nurrabiel; Glenpaen, Brimpaen; Merrignee, Boorowa, NSW; Grassy Creek, Rugby, NSW; Kurra-Wirra, Curra; and Mountain Dam, Telangatuk East, each receiving semen rights.

Kerrsville principal Robert Plush said since judging the Poll Merino ram at Bendigo he had “set his mind on buying him” at Sheepvention.

Pemcaw will retain a 50 per cent semen right in the 18.5-micron, two-year-old ram.

The winning syndicate was pushed right to their limit by another syndicate of buyers from NSW.

One Oak, Jerilderie, NSW, also had a fantastic Sheepvention finale, making a top of $15,000 for a 14-month-old, 17M ram.

The winning bidder was Scott Pickering from Derella Downs, Esperance, Western Australia.

Mr Pickering was the losing bidder on the ram’s father at the Adelaide Show ram sale in 2012, and said he was chasing the bold-crimping wool which would suit their clients in varying rainfall areas.

One Oak principal Graham Wells said the ram was better in the wool than his father, but only time would tell if he would be a superior sire.

Overall, Pemcaw had the highest average of $6120 across five long wool rams.

Roseville Park stud, Dubbo, NSW, also had a consistent sale, making a top $7000 and av $5075 across 10 lots.

The clearance rate of 86 per cent was up on last year’s 81pc, with 329 of the 389 rams finding buyers.

Elders auctioneer Ross Milne said several sale-goers had noted the offering was one of the best catalogued in recent years.

“The sale’s finding a nice happy medium in terms of the number of rams we can comfortably offer and sell,” he said.

Recent trends towards Poll Merinos and larger-framed sheep were echoed in the sale, Mr Milne said.

“There’s a lot more medium wool types in the shed and they’re being well accepted by the market.”

Adding to the big field of Victorian producers were buyers from South Australia, Tasmania, NSW and WA.