Confidence in the Tasmanian lamb job boosts Valma ram sale

Stud principal Andrew McLauchlan said it was an outstanding sale.

“I’m exceptionally happy,” he said. “It’s certainly our best sale for a long, long time.”

“The sale was really a reflection of the confidence in the lamb job, people have got feed, although the east coast is pretty ordinary the majority of Tasmania is looking very good.

“They are buying good rams to get good lambs.”

He said buyers sought Poll Dorsets with early growth and positive muscle patterns, to get weight into lambs.

“With the White Suffolks, they were looking for very good shaped rams, with lower birthweights.”

The top-priced Poll Dorset, lot three, was a June 2017 drop ram, with a birth weight of 0.48kilograms, a weaning weight of 10.5kg, and a postweaning weight of 15.7kg. 

He recorded a post-weaning fat of -0.6millimetres, a post weaning eye muscle depth of two mm and a Lambplan carcase plus index of 205.3

The ram also had a trade dollar index of $112.3 and an export dollar index of $110.8

The ram was sired by a property bred ram, V305, which has produced animals with lower birth weights, good muscle and butt shape, with plenty of growth.

Creese North East Waterhouse and Tomahawk property manager Sam Hood paid the top price at the sale.

He said the company started breeding its own rams, seven or eight years ago, and he had picked up eight rams at the sale.

“The ram had well-balanced figures and was in the top five per cent of the breed, he had a good eye muscle area, good post-weaning weights and was in that top five per cent for carcase plus figures,” Mr Hood said.

Creese North East runs an aggregation of properties, producing 17,000 lambs a year, mainly for Coles.

“We also sell store lambs, we can’t finish the number of lambs we breed, and for the store lamb market the Dorset cross is most sought after.”

Mr Hood said he had been buying Valma genetics for more than a decade.

“He takes home blue ribbons, wherever he goes, it’s a credit to what he and the family are breeding.”

The rams would be used in an internal breeding program for Creese North East.

Agent Reg Woodiwiss said the sale was reflective of the continued confidence in Tasmania.

“Buyers were looking for high growth, good, even shaped sheep, with muscling and moderate to low birthweights,” Mr Woodiwiss said.

“Competition was strong from the north-east, the Derwent Valley, central Midlands and northern Tasmania.

“The season is still relatively good, and our ewe numbers haven’t been affected, like NSW and northern Victoria.”