Gamadale Australian White Sheep stud sells rams and ewes to buyers in NSW, SA, WA

The Gamadale Australian White Sheep stud attracted successful bids from across Australia, including Western Australia, Queensland and SA, beating the previous top-priced record of $23,500 set in 2021.

The stud sold 12 of its 14 rams to $27,000 to average $10,500, while 88 of 115 flock rams offered sold to $7200to average $3040.

The Lascelles stud also sold 25 of 42 ewes to a top price of $7600, including a total clearance of 24 scanned-in-lamb ewes.

In comparison, last year the stud had complete clearances across the three categories and sold 12 stud rams, 110 flock rams and 29 ewes.

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Gamadale Australian White stud principal Ben Rowney said he was pleased with the new top-price record.

"We sold ewes to Western Australia, we sold flock rams to Queensland and rams went to New South Wales and South Australia and at this stage, even I don't know where all the buyers were from," he said.

Mr Rowney runs the stud with his wife, Sheena, and his parents Nip and Dianne Rowney.

They also sow about 4500 hectares of crops including wheat, barley, lentils and lupins each year.

"We expected to sell more rams and while we had strong support from return clients, the demand from rams we've experienced in the past was not as strong as it was in previous years," he said.

"It was our best and most consistent line up of stock and we've still got rams available."

The top-priced ram, Lot 41 Gamadale 210313, was knocked down for $27,000 to Craig and Caroline Chad, Double C Australian Whites, Dubbo, NSW.

Gamadale Australian White stud described the sale topper as a well-balanced ram with excellent structure, perfect black feet, a nice hair pattern and the highest growth ram for his age.

Mr Rowney said the popularity of the meat sheep breed was due to their low maintenance requirements.

"You're not chasing shearers or flies or lice and with the cost of shearing and wool it can sometimes not be that viable for all the work I suppose," he said.

"I think people are looking towards an easier alternative and there is not a lot of labour with these sheep.

"You can also run more sheep per acre compared to a Merino and that's because they're not putting energy into growing wool."

Mr Chad said his family had bought rams from the Gamadale stud since its first sale six years ago.

"He was a complete package who was structurally correct and had plenty of body length and weight for age," he said.

"He will go over some ewe lambs around Christmas, but we'll join him also with a few mature ewes between now and then."

The second top-priced ram, Lot 42 Gamadale 210235, was bought by Rod and Cindy Hannemann, Cleve, SA, for $25,000, who were also volume buyers of the scanned-in-lamb ewes.

"We're starting up a new stud over here and intend to register as Hannevale Australian Whites and our ambition was to get a good trailer load of quality ewes from Gamadale," Mr Hannemann said.

"We bought 17 ewes which will form part of our foundation flock, along with the second top-priced ram.

"We really liked the top-priced ram but we couldn't stretch our budget to that so we settled on Lot 42 given we knew he had been used in the stud and had lambs on the ground, so he was a proven breeder."

The highest-price SIL ewe sold for $7600 to Jembella Farm, Angaston, SA.

The stud sold another stud ram a day after the sale, Lot 43 Gamadale 210047, for $10,000 to stud buyer at Mount Pleasant, SA.

Nutrien Ouyen livestock agent Tim Ferguson, an agent for Gamadale, said the stud offered a consistent line-up of rams which were sought after by a mix of stud and commercial clients.

"We were happy with the sale and in my opinion the rams were the highest-quality line up the family have put together," he said.

"We did struggle with buyer support on the ground, but the presence of AuctionsPlus was huge and a lot of rams and ewes were purchased via the online platform."