*97 of 112 rams sold to $14,000, av $3670
THE roads were wet and damaged from an influx of rain on the way to the 26th Glenpaen Merino and Poll Merino ram sale at Brimpaen.
But when potential buyers got to the stud's property, it was very much worth it.
The weather brightened up and didn't resemble anything like the wet weather that much of Victoria had been experiencing recently.
It was evident as the sun began shining on Glenpaen stud co-principal Rod Miller's face as he made his opening comments of the sale.
"I honestly didn't think this sale would go ahead," he said.
"When it started raining in our area, it just didn't let up.
"Our local creek here flooded, and then [on the day prior to sale day], we got nearly 100 millimetres of rain and many roads around us were closed."
While it was an anxious two days for Mr Miller, he decided to go ahead with the sale the evening before as "postponing wasn't really an option".
"There were a few other sales around and we probably wouldn't be able to squeeze the sale in so we just had to run with it," he said.
"There may have been the odd buyer that didn't turn up because they may have had some trouble getting here, but as it turned out, there were a few new buyers here, which is great."
Mr Miller said the sale was very solid, with a lot of depth throughout the lots.
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He also indicated that the stud's intention this year was to pull back the average by offering more rams than last year.
While local buyers were competitive, agents representing buyers from interstate also bought up big.
The most notable of those interstate buyers was Cortina Pastoral, Naracoorte, SA, who bought in volume with 20 rams, with the top price from their purchases being Lot 34, CY OC 600 Poll, bought for $9000.
Three lots broke the $10,000 barrier at the sale, with Lot 2, 80 KN 90, sold for $11,000 to Somemill Mellis, Birchip, and Lot 6, 68 KN 150, sold for $12,000 to Grassy Creek Merinos, Reids Flat, NSW.
But the top-priced ram was Lot 9, Y 104 109, bought by local producer Rod Marshall, Pomonal.
That ram had Yarrawonga 1162 as its sire and recorded a fibre diameter measurement of 17.8 micron, a standard deviation of 2.8, a coefficient variant of 15.7 and a comfort factor of 99.8 per cent.
Mr Marshall said he was impressed with the offering at Glenpaen every year and was glad to be the top buyer this year.
"I have been purchasing here at Glenpaen for a number of years now," he said.
"I try to get the best types of ram that I can and sometimes I generally have to pay a good price to get them."
Mr Marshall said while things had seasonally been a bit wet at his operation, the ram would fit in well.
"I am very happy with the sheep that the Miller family are producing here, and I just keep coming back as they produce good genetics," he said.
