STRONG interest from interstate buyers has helped drive Amarula Dorper stud to a $40,000 top and a $5537 average at its annual on-property sale on Friday.
Beautiful sunshine greeted the more than 50 registered bidders that gathered at the Kirkby's Gravesend property Glenavon, while more than 60 followed the sale online via AuctionsPlus, in a bid to get their hands on the 148 Dorper and White Dorper rams and 40 ewes up for sale.
All 188 rams and ewes were sold during the live auction, grossing $898,500 at an average of $4779.
In the breakdown, 102 Dorper rams sold at an average of $5387 and reached a top of $40,000 for Amarula Flynn 187779, while 23 Dorper ewes sold at an average of $1956 and to a top of $3000 for Amarula 208768, which sold to the Southern family, Thallon, Queensland.
The top-selling ram was an August 2018-drop son of Whynot Dave 160128 and out of Amarula 165780, he was an elite stud sire, a conformation five, a type five, was rated in the 30 per cent of the lamb plan for birth weight and was purchased by the Palmer family, Semi-Arid Ag, Overnewton Station, Ivanhoe.
It was the second-consecutive year the Ivanhoe operation had purchased the top-price ram at Amarula, after taking home the $45,000 top last year, and buyer Bill Palmer said it was because of the stud's successful track record.
"We come up here every year and Amarula is the only bloodline we use," Mr Palmer said.
"Flynn is a proven sire and you only have to look at how many rams he had in the sale to see what he can do.
"These rams have been really well suited to our country and I have no doubt he will be no different."
The top-selling Dorper ram was on of eight the Palmer family purchased at an average of $16,312, to go with 19 ewes at an average of $1973.
"We run our own stud and all of these purchases will go into the stud," Mr Palmer said.
"We've got plenty of flock rams and ewes, so all of these ones will go into the stud to keep the bloodlines fresh.
"The breeding is certainly progressing and from our perspective, you can't ask for much more than that."
Read Also:
Much like the Palmer family, the Pye family of Gingie Pastoral Company, Gingie Station, Walgett, backed up its support of last year's sale by taking home the top-selling White Dorper ram, Amarula Slick 201503, for $36,000, which was believed to be an on-property record for the breed.
By Nomuula Lowie 170275 and out of the 110181 ewe, the March-drop twin was an elite stud sire, a conformation five, a type five and rated in the top 30pc of the breed for weaning weight, post-weaning weight and lean meat yield.
Buyer Charlie Pye said Friday's sale marked the second time his family had bought White Dorpers since it moved away from Merinos after more than 100 years.
"When we came last year we bought a bit of a mixture of black and White Dorpers and after having a year's worth of experience, we have decided to lean more towards the whites," Mr Pye said.
"I've got about 20 ewes down with Greg McCann at the Central West Genetics Centre in Dubbo and I was initially going to get some semen but I'll just use this ram now. The easy handling was the big reason behind the shift in focus towards the whites, but in the first 12 months we have been really happy with how these genetics have been performing."
The top seller was among four rams purchased by Gingie Pastoral Company, at an average of $13,250.
Other volume buyers in attendance included the Rogers family, Eurella Station, Ivanhoe, eight rams at an average of $3312, the Tucker family, Willaura North, Victoria, three rams at an average of $8000, Osterley Downs Partnership, Osterley Downs, Cobar, nine rams at an average of $4388 and the Maxwell family, Narrabri, six rams at $4250.
Online volume buyers included Boxvale Trading, Morven, Queensland, 11 rams at an average of $3954, the Darlington family, Surat, Queensland, 18 rams at an average of, $3196 and the Crosby family, Mitchell, Queensland, four rams at an average $3750.
The sale also included a charity lot with the $4000 proceeds of Amarula 208941, which was purchased by Osterley Downs Partnership, going to the Westpac Rescue Helicopter
The sale was conducted by Nutrien Ag Solutions, Narrabri, with John Settree and Brad Wilson auctioneering.
Love agricultural news? Sign up for The Land's free daily newsletter.