*Total clearance of 80 rams to $10,500 (twice), av $4531
Violet Town stud Toland Poll Merinos has achieved a top price of more than $10,000 twice, while doubling last year's average.
The two rams sold for $10,500 each and went to Ruffy and Woodchester, SA.
Stud co-principal Anna Toland said the stud easily eclipsed last year's average of $2719.
One of the top buyers, David Sleigh, Sleigh Pastoral, Ruffy, said he had been on the Toland rams "since year dot."
He said he started on the Bindawarra flock, which was the basis of Toland Merinos.
"They stood up to cold, wet winters at Omeo as they were good, sturdy Merino sheep," Mr Sleigh said.
"Clean fleece weight was the primary consideration.
"And we want to produce sheep that are going to "go" real early, because most of our Merino lambs now go into the market.
"You want some cover, so we're looking for a dual purpose sheep, with the emphasis still on wool."
The ram, lot 38, was sired by CP707350 out of 180827.
He had a post-weaning weight of 6.95 kilograms, yearling weight of 9kg, a yearling fat measurement of 0.98 millimetres and yearling eye muscle depth of 1.31mm.
His current measurements were a 16.7 micron fleece, a standard deviation of 2.3 per cent and comfort factor of 99.9pc.
The ram's Dual Purpose Plus figure was 205.15, in the top five per cent of the sale animals.
Mr Sleigh said he was only using Toland bloodlines and bought nine rams at the sale.
"They produce a good bright, clean wool, which will stand up to the conditions," he said.
The other top-priced ram, lot 19, went to Lakeview Pastoral, SA.
He was sired by 171007 out of 180892.
The ram had figures of a 3.75kg PWWT, a YWT of 5.18kg, YFAT of 0.64mm and a YEMD of 1.02mm.
He had current figures of a DP+ of 163.47, a 17.6 micron fleece, a 3.0 SD and 99.7 CF.
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Ms Toland described the result as "phenomenal".
"Last year our average was $2700 and I wanted to beat that - it's safe to say, we smashed it," Ms Toland said.
"It was unbelievable.
'We got a few new clients this year, testament to what we are doing here at Toland, which is breeding rams out in the paddock that have stood up to 33 centimetres (13 inches) of rain and are good to go," she said.
The rams were "well built" with great carcase attributes and wool.
"They are an all-purpose sheep and people are certainly not just looking at the wool, they are looking at those carcase characteristics," Ms Toland said.
The stud had closely selected on breeding values, while the rams were about 10kg heavier this year, than last," she said.
"They have done exceptionally well in this wetter winter - they are true paddock reared flock rams, which are going all over the state and interstate," she said.
Volume buyers included Woomargarma Station, Holbrook, NSW (10), Melbourne University Dookie Campus, Dookie, (six) and Bahr Ag, Henty, NSW (five).
Elders auctioneer Ross Milne said the result was a very good endorsement of a program that had run for quite some time.
"They are genuine dual purpose sheep, they are sheep that have the ability to handle most climates - particularly high rainfall areas and there was a good mix of established, and new clients," Mr Milne said.
The rams went into SA, the western district and NSW, as well as locally.
"There were a lot of rams selling for between $4-5000, which was a pretty true reflection of the sale average," he said.
The sale was conducted by Elders and Nutrien Ag Solutions, interfaced with AuctionsPlus.
Andrew Miller
I'm a general reporter with Stock & Land, with a special interest in irrigation issues. I completed my cadetship, with the Age, in 1980. Over my career, I've worked for ABC radio news (Mt Isa, Qld) and at provincial and suburban newspapers.
I'm a general reporter with Stock & Land, with a special interest in irrigation issues. I completed my cadetship, with the Age, in 1980. Over my career, I've worked for ABC radio news (Mt Isa, Qld) and at provincial and suburban newspapers.
