*41 of 45 Corriedale rams sold to $2200, av $1040
*25 of 26 Suffolk rams sold to $1600, av $725
IT WAS the best on-property sale Croydon had ever conducted on property, where both Corriedale and Suffolk rams were offered.
A near total clearance of 93 per cent was recorded on the 71 rams for sale.
Of the 45 Corriedale rams for sale, 41 sold, to a top of $2200, and an average price of $1040, and of the 26 Suffolk rams offered, 25 sold, to a top of $1600, av $725.
It was only the fourth sale the stud had held at its Condah property, and stud principal Mike Deppeler said it was great reward for effort to record such an impressive result.
“A couple of years ago, we had a complete clearance but only offered 35 rams, whereas this year, we’ve sold more and our average is even up,” Mr Deppeler said.
Return buyers of five years, Neville and Heather Richardson, Hawkesdale, purchased the top-priced ram of the sale, Lot 9, a Corriedale ram.
The ram was a standout to Mr Deppeler prior to the sale.
“He was a very big-framed, bulky sort of sheep,” he said.
The ram carried the top breeding value for live weight at eight months.
The stud performance records its Corriedale sheep using Sheep Improvement Limited (SIL), a New Zealand-based system, which has breeding values suited to its breeding objectives.
The second top-priced ram, Lot 3, was purchased by another return buyer, Bron Ellis, Sweetfield Corriedale stud, Mount Moriac, for $2000.
“He was a good, open-faced sheep, a good all-round sheep, with a bit of carcase about him,” he said.
Mr Deppeler was pleased that the top-priced Suffolk was purchased by a stud.
The $1600 ram was bought by Ian and Julie Plumridge, Ridgeville Downs, Apsley.
The Plumridge family had bought a stud ram before, but this was their first time buying at auction.
Mr Deppeler said this ram had been a standout since it was a lamb.
The ram was the heaviest weighted ram of the catalogue when tested in October.
Mr Deppeler said in the past, the sale was mostly supported by local clients, but this year’s buying gallery was more widespread.
“Rams still went to the Western District, but also some as far north as Harrow, and some as far south as Woolsthorpe,” he said.
He was pleased that there were two or three new faces in attendance, who mostly competed on the Corriedale offering.
But having return clients bid up again this year was the most rewarding part of the result.
“It’s all well and good to sell sheep one year, but if they’re not going to perform, people aren’t going to come back,” he said.
Volume buyers were also active, with Peter Small, ‘The Wilderness’, Coleraine, purchasing 13 Suffolk rams, and Simon Armitage, Dunkeld, taking home nine Corriedales.
Mr Deppeler said since moving to Condah in 2003, he has pushed his Corriedale sheep to reach their full dual purpose potential.
“Before we moved to Condah from Derrinallum, I thought I had good sheep, but with the heavier country and higher rainfall, it put more pressure on them, and I really had to do some work to improve them,” he said.
“Which has worked out well in the long run.”
The on-property ram sale was conducted by Elders Hamilton.
Joely Mitchell
Joely started her career at Stock & Land as a cadet journalist in 2016. She is now the editor of the paper.
Joely started her career at Stock & Land as a cadet journalist in 2016. She is now the editor of the paper.
