Dry puts a dampener on annual Bendigo Dorper sale

Landmark’s Tim Woodham, Wagga Wagga, said agents were concerned at how the sale would go, after several volume buyers indicated they weren’t attending.

“Considering the season the end result was quite positive,” Mr Woodham said.

“The west is not in a great state, in fact, most of the nation is not in a great state.”

He said the sale was buoyed by several buyers, who took more than one ram.

“They chipped in - sure they didn’t have to pay a lot, but the quality was really good.

Rosylnmead West sheep stud’s Danny Teskera, Echuca, paid the top price of $5000 at the sale, for an August, 2016-drop Prieska, Peak Hill, NSW Dorper, with Kaya bloodlines.

“He is bred so well,” Mr Teskera said.

“The mother of this particular young ram is an outstanding ewe, who has produced in her own right,” Mr Teskera said.

“There’s a lot of depth in the pedigree, so we had a lot of confidence to go ahead and buy him.”

The Type Five ram weighed 101kilograms and had figures of a 6.5mm fat depth, and 42mm eye muscle depth. 

Mr Teskera said he thought there would be quality rams at the sale and he was in the market.

“I did the inspections on Friday and had him in the ring, first hand, and I really like the way he moved and the way he is put together.”

The ram “exuded quality” when he walked around the ring.

“He has a great, masculine head, a beautiful body and is so well put together,” Mr Teskera said.

“He just moved like he was on an elevator, so fluidly.”

He said the ram would be the stud’s main sire for the upcoming breeding season.

​The top-priced White Dorper ram was sold to Sandy Forbes Royston stud, WA, for $3000 by Edson Livestock, Tintinara, SA.