SORELL SPRINGS
*42 of 45 rams sold to a top of $4400, av $1528
BROOKLANDS
*41 of 45 rams sold to a top of $2400, av $1412
MERINO rams sold strong at Brooklands and Sorell Springs’ joint ram sale at York Plains, Tasmania, last week.
The studs, each run by brothers Gavin and David Nicholas, and their families, offered a total of 90 rams.
Sorell Springs sold 42 of 45 rams to a top price of $4400, and an average price of $1528.
The top ram was bought by Stuart Madsen, ‘Banwell Pastoral’, Triabunna, Tas.
The ram recorded fleece measurements of 18 micron, 3.4 standard deviation (SD), 19.1 per cent co-efficient of variation (CV), and 99.8pc comfort factor (CF).
Brooklands sold 41 of 45 rams to a top price of $2400, and an average price of $1412.
The stud offered a handful of Poll Merinos, which has only been done in recent years, in response to interest from a number of clients.
“We had one or two clients that were interested in polls, so we’ve just started in the last couple of years to get into them,” Brooklands stud principal Gavin Nicholas said.
Mr Nicholas said he was happy with the result of the sale.
“I thought we might have battled to sell as many as we did, given there aren’t a lot of ewes in Tasmania at the moment, so we’re really pleased with the clearance and the prices that we got,” he said.
He said many return clients helped to support the sale.
“We have been breeding these rams for over 70 years, and they’re very well-suited to Tasmanian conditions, so we get a lot of clients who keep coming back because they’re happy with what they’re getting,” he said.
He said buyers came from all throughout Tasmania, and also from Flinders Island.
Volume buyers included DT & GT Fish, ‘Strathburn’, Oatlands, Tas, who purchased 16 rams, and ‘Braes Pastoral’, Woodbury, Tas, who bought 11.
The rams were 14 months-old and their fleece averaged an 18.6 micron.
