* 1 of 4 Wiltshire Horn rams sold to $700, av $700
* 11 of 31 Wiltshire Horn ewes sold to $450 (five times), av $350
Hallston Valley Farm Wiltshire Horn sale was a local success, with many South Gippsland based producers keen to volume buy.
Stud principal Jill Noble said the only on-property sale for the breed in Victoria had many differences to a typical sale.
"I've got a very specific local market... who have lots of small holdings [and] it's quite different than traditional sale," she said.
"Our sale also very relationship focused and we spend a lot of time with each of the buyers who show interest in our breed."
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Ms Noble said there was also good demand of forward orders of sheep after the sale was completed too, with an extra 20 sheep sold.
She said that ongoing relationship was very important for her, which in turn will grow the breed across Australia.
"We often have an ongoing relationship with the buyers after the sale too, doing ongoing sheep husbandry and support, whether it's education or vaccinations," she said.
"It's quite a different market down here and our top buyer Rod for example, is a regular commercial buyer and he's bought from me several times through the year.
"He's bought some more lamb and has actually put a forward order in for 20 more ewes in a couple of months or so, and it's great to have that for ongoing repeat customer,"
But Ms Noble also said a lot of customers who came along had either small holdings, wanted to produce their own food, or people who are just starting out in breeding.
"Many buyers also just want to see how they could perhaps experiment with a paddock to plate market," she said.
Rod Allen, Mirboo bought the top-priced ram, an 80 kilogram flock ram, Lot 3 Yellow 19, for $700.
He also was the highest bidder for six ewes, while fellow volume buyer David Corrigan, Koonwarra, bought four ewes.
Ms Noble said Lot 3, Yellow 19 was a very even balanced ram and had a great pedigree.
"He's up there, pushing 80kg and he is a rising one year old and he has got a fabulous sire called Grenade who's had a huge influence on our stock.
"Grenade is from a very famous pedigree line of Wiltshire Horn called the Dynamite line bred by O'Lachlan.
"That ram was a twin born ram and Rod is considering setting up a stud down the track because he is an ex-Merino breeder."
Ms Noble said climates right across the eastern seaboard are seeing the breed diversified throughout different areas including in Queensland and Western Australia.
Running sheep in traditional dairy country also has its advantages, especially with the ultra-wet season that 2022 has brought, according to her, and credits the breed as "really sustainable" for South Gippsland.
"Wiltshire Horns don't really encounter many issues like flystrike," she said.
"If they do have it, then we are talking about a fraction of the percentage of a flock would be impacted.
"They are very well suited to softer, boggy land... and sheep with such small feet means less damage done to our dam areas and erosion banks."