Gippsland merino ram sale
*169 of 183 rams sold to $6250, av $2193
AN “outstanding” polled merino ram was bought for the top price, by a return client, at Tuesday’s Gippsland merino ram sale.
The ram, Lot 40, was put up by Stockton merino stud and bought at $6250 by long term clients, Tim and Julie Bingley, Andrew Whitlock and Ben Firman, The Meadows, Rokewood.
Mr Bingley said the ram will stand for stud duty.
“Allan Stewart [Stockton] breeds outstanding sheep and we’ve been using his rams for many years,” Mr Bingley said.
“They’re very well suited for the southern environment.
“The Stockton rams work well for our wool sheep and cut the fleeces we like.
“We’re transferring to polls and Allan’s Stockton rams are ideal for that purpose.”
Lot 40, 22-months-old, was 114kg, stood square and solid and his 18 Micron fleece was very well crimped.
“He’s a very wide, deep bodied ram and he’ll be ideal for stud duty,” Mr Stewart said.
The same client bought Lot 44, at $3000.
“He’s a long bodied ram, with beautiful, lustrous, white fleece. He has longer crimped wool on him,” Mr Stewart said.
“The Bingley’s know what they’re doing buying these two rams.”
The top-priced horned ram, Bindawarra stud’s Lot 24, was bought at $5000 by Trent Anderson for St Katherine’s, Darriman. It was the first Bindawarra ram bought by St Katherine’s.
“This ram will be a nice cross over our Merino ewes, to breed our own flock rams,” Mr Anderson said.
“I’m very impressed with the wool quality and coverage, he’ll increase our wool cut and maintain the quality of what we’re already doing.
“He’s also showing an excellent frame for dual purpose joining and the fact he’s bred and raised in similar country to us is also an advantage.”
Bindawarra stud principal, Steve Harrison, said Lot 24 was bred out of the renowned Bindawarra 400 family.
“It’s one of the foundation families of the stud. This ram still has his lamb’s teeth and he weighs 103kg with a 15.5M free growing fleece,” Mr Harrison said.
“He’s got a tremendous depth of body and has one of the biggest eye muscle areas.”
The presentation of rams on offer, with 20 more than last year, showed a consistency in quality across the draft. Rams were sold across Gippsland, into the western district, northeast Victoria, NSW and Tasmania.
Winner of this year’s Elders National Clip of the Year, Scott and Kate Bowden, Cluny, Bothwell, Tasmania – who cut 800-1000 bales annually and produce pasture-assured first-cross lambs – flew in to attend the sale for the first time and went home with a Bindawarra merino ram.
Twelve buyers took home four rams or more. Sale’s G Taresch bought eight rams. WJ Armit & Son, Negoura Station, Swifts Creek, Gordon and Sally Moon, Wulgulmerang, and Craig and Andrea Bush, Meerlieu all bought six rams for their enterprises.
Elders’ Mal Nicholls, who organises the annual Gippsland merino ram sale, said everyone who wanted a ram was able to buy what they wanted on Tuesday.
