Ewes soar at wet Ballarat sale

Strong competition from local producers, Gippsland and further west pushed the top price up $37 on last year’s effort, with the price inflation on a year ago relatively proportionate across the whole yarding.

A pen of 200 Border Leicester-Merino ewes bred by Colin and Jacquie Smith, Kinross, Carranballac, are headed to Gippsland with the top price of $251 per head attached to them.

The 1.5-year-olds were out of ex-Stavely Park Merino ewes and Coolmore Border Leicester rams, were November shorn and had all the finishings.

The Smith family sold another pen for $249, which will also head to Gippsland.

Ewe lambs also fetched a solid price, with the top pen consigned by the Addlem family, Serpentine, going for $200 square.

Older first-cross ewes saw their fair share of competition too, with well-bred stock going to mainly local buyers.

HR Haintz made $158 for 80 three- and four-year-old Border Leicester-Merinos.

While overnight rain before the sale had affected presentation of the pens, the consensus around the yards about the high quality of ewes, which according to several onlookers, were comparable to the Naracoorte sale in South Australia a few weeks ago.

There was also relative consensus that prices were dear, but given current lamb and mutton prices, were fair.