* 43 out of 52 Poll Merinos sold to $4500 (twice), av $1919
* 12 out of 19 Border Leicesters sold to $1800, av $1117
IT may have been a small crowd, but there were plenty of volume buyers at the 2022 Mount Yulong Poll Merino and Border Leicester Sale held this past Tuesday.
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Held at Telangeluk East, the sale had many regular clients return to the stud to purchase 52 rams that went under the hammer.
There were two top price rams of the sale - both being Poll Merinos - Lot 3, 21-0308, and Lot 29, 21-0541, both sold for $4500.
Autumn drop ram Lot 3, 21-0308 recorded a fibre diameter of 20.6 microns, a standard deviation of 3 microns, a coefficient variant of 14.4 per cent and a comfort factor of 99.6pc and was sold to long-time client Peter Remfry, Willaura.
Stud co-principal Peter Rogers said that while the clearance rate was "slightly disappointing", he was glad that repeat buyers kept returning to the yearly sale.
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"Were are happy enough with our prices overall, but it's great we have a few consistent clients coming back and heading here to Mount Yulong," he said.
"It's good to know that there are buyers who are willing to add to their flocks with a consistent breed."
He said the year had looked good seasonally throughout the northern Grampians region, and his farm has reaped the benefits of getting an early start for his breeding program this year.
"Feed has been really good throughout and the rams have grown out well for us, and slightly stronger than previous years," he said.
"Overall, we are set up for a pretty good spring, and with a lot of rain coming, we will continue to have a bit of feed at the latter part of this year as well.
"Commercially, we've got huge lambing percentages, and the ewes are going to cut a lot of wool, no matter how you look at it, it'll be a good season, and our pasture is unreal right here."
Neville Robinson, Charam was the stand-out volume buyer for the day, jumping at the chance to pick up 18 of Mount Yulong's Merino offerings with his top price being Lot 18, 21-0469, bought for $2250.
For the first time, the stud also offered 19 Border Leicesters at the auction.
The top price of that breed, Lot 60, 21-0038 was sold for $1800 to the Kearney family, Hamilton.
Fellow stud co-principal Daniel Rogers said they had put the stud's Border Leicester rams over many of their surplus Merino ewes for a long time and selling into the first-cross ewe market was an exciting venture for them.
"We also finish our weather lambs through either stubbles or feedlots and it's been a successful part of our business," he said.
"So we decided to buy some stud Border Leicester ewes from Jackson Farming in Moyston and from Talbragar in Dunedoo, NSW and then bought a stud ram off Glenlea and it's just a little enterprise we would like to do."
"Commercially, we're keeping a lot of rams ourselves too, so we are our own biggest client but then to offer our surplus Border Leicester rams to our existing Merino clients is positive."
Peter Rogers said he was also pleased with a growing interest in his working dog breeding program this past year.
