DISCERNING buyers were rewarded with good purchasing opportunities at the recent weather-hit Horsham store sale where around 8000 sheep were yarded.
Selling agent Wayne Driscoll, Australian Wool Network (AWN) Horsham said the yarding was indicative of the problematic season in the Wimmera.
"We had some really well presented sheep in some cases, but there were some lines of mixed quality which is reflective of the conditions growers have had to deal with, the excessively wet and cold weather has meant many sheep are behind where they might usually be at this time of the year," Mr Driscoll said.
He said the big wet had also had an impact on numbers.
"We originally just over 10,500 in the sale but there were a few that couldn't make it due to access issues, with roads being cut by flooding creeks, so we'll be looking carefully to see whether we need another special store sale later on, depending on the weather conditions from here on in," he said.
Prices were solid for the top quality lines.
The Dickinson family, Yanac, north of Nhill, were volume vendors of their crossbred ewes due to transitioning into a pure Merino enterprise.
The top 1.5 year old ewes made $293 and seconds $230.
The Hemley family, Glenorchy, also enjoyed a successful sale, with a large consignment of young crossbred ewes seeing prices into the mid $200s, while the Hausler family at Karnak were also in the same price range.
Brimgower Farms, Brimpaen, saw their top pen of 3.5yo crossbred ewes reach $222 while the seconds hit $212.
Gerard Matthews, Brimgower Farms, said he was pleased with result given the uncertainty surrounding the season.
"It's so wet everywhere and you're not sure how that will work in the market," Mr Matthews said.
"On one hand people may be focusing on getting their crop off, on the other they may be looking for more livestock if they couldn't bale hay or have crops they might not harvest," he said.
"We've sold at this sale in the past and been fairly happy so we decided to do the same this year in spite of the season being so hard to predict."
On the Merino ewe front the Potter family, Tooan, had the top pen at $170, with several other pens from $130-150.
There was a strong consignment of wether lambs, both Merino and crossbred, at the sale.
The Meyer family, Kaniva, saw the top price for Merino wethers at $138, while another north-west Wimmera operation, Yarrock Farms, made $128.
The Pymer family, Wonwondah, 'Girvan Lea', were volume vendors with 650 Merino wethers on offer to a top of $114
The Klowss family, Grass Flat, had a strong line of Merino ewe lambs in, but Mr Driscoll said only half made it to the sale.
"They had some very well presented sheep but flooding meant they could only get half to market."
Jim Gibson, Beulah West, was a buyer at the sale, purchasing crossbred ewes from the northern Wimmera to continue a first cross lamb breeding operation.
"We've got some good results at Warracknabeal this year so we're going to keep at it," Mr Gibson said.
Mr Driscoll said the volume buyer for the day was the McDonald family, 'Wattlebank', Toolondo, who snapped up several pens of crossbred ewes.
Gregor Heard
Gregor Heard is ACM's national grains industry reporter, based in Horsham, Victoria. He has a wealth of knowledge surrounding the cropping sector through his 15 years in the role. Prior to that he was with the Fairfax network as a reporter with Stock & Land. Some of the major issues he has reported on during his time with the company include the deregulation of the export wheat market, the introduction of genetically modified crops and the fight to protect growers better from grain trader insolvencies. Still involved with the family farm he is passionate about rural Australia and its people and hopes to use his role to act as an advocate for those involved in the grain sector.
Gregor Heard is ACM's national grains industry reporter, based in Horsham, Victoria. He has a wealth of knowledge surrounding the cropping sector through his 15 years in the role. Prior to that he was with the Fairfax network as a reporter with Stock & Land. Some of the major issues he has reported on during his time with the company include the deregulation of the export wheat market, the introduction of genetically modified crops and the fight to protect growers better from grain trader insolvencies. Still involved with the family farm he is passionate about rural Australia and its people and hopes to use his role to act as an advocate for those involved in the grain sector.
