A small town in Victoria's Wimmera region can rightly claim to be Australia's stud Merino sales capital.
With a population of just 99, studs from Marnoo claimed the top two places in our ranking of Australia's best-performed Merino ram studs in 2022.
Heading the charge was Banavie Poll Merino Stud, which claimed the top placing, with fellow Marnoo stud Wallaloo Park not far behind to claim second place.
Banavie's sister stud, Charinga, at Berrimal - also in the Wimmera - was the fifth best performing stud based on on-farm single-vendor ram sales in 2022.
However, NSW took state honours, with six studs ranked in the top studs, while Victoria had four studs.
South Australian stud Poll Merino stud Glenlea Park, at Keith, just missed the top 10 despite achieving a state-record $4286 average for the sale of 157 rams.
To qualify for our list, studs had to offer a minimum of 50 rams in a single-vendor sale, with an 80 per cent or higher clearance. Ewe were not included, as the number of studs offering ewes was too spasmodic.
As with our bull studs of 2022 listing last week, there are some hard-luck stories.
Hazeldean Merino stud had a very successful Elite Ram sale in February that averaged $5190 per ram. However the 21 rams offered and sold failed to make the volume criteria.
And even combining those 21 rams with the 244 sold for an average of $4155 at its annual spring ram sale at Cooma, produced an overall average of $4237.
That put Hazeldean in 13th place, $108 a head short of being the only stud to make it into the top 10 of Australia's bull studs for 2022 and the top 10 Merino studs.
1. Banavie Merinos, Marnoo, Victoria
Sale average $5489
It was the last minute inclusion of the top-priced $80,000 ram into the annual sale catalogue that propelled Banavie Merino stud into the top spot of Australian Merino stud sales of 2022, with an average price of $5489 for 91 rams sold.
This was the equal top rice reported for an on-farm Merino ram in 2022. The average price was up 40 per cent on last year's $3981 average.
The ram sold to the Gooding family's East Mundalla stud, Tarin Rock, WA.
"I am lost for words," said stud principal Tim Polkinghorne after the sale.
"It's an amazing result for lots of work right through from breeding time to sale day."
Other Banavie rams sold for $32,000 and $24,000 on the day.
2. Wallaloo Park, Marnoo, Victoria
Sale average $5377
Wallaloo Park principal Trent Carter put 30 extra rams into the stud's 2022 on-farm sale to "try and tame the average". He failed miserably.
Despite selling more than 200 rams this year, the stud's sale average climbed $587 above last year's average, to hit $5377.
"We put in an extra 30 rams to try and tame the average, but prices were boosted with a couple of extremely good stud purchases," Trent said.
No wonder he described the sale result as "overwhelming".
The top ram was bought by Karawatha Park Poll Merino stud, Kimba, SA, for $32,000. Kimba Park has been buying at Wallaloo Park for 27 years, a sure sign of its quality and consistency
3. Mumblebone Merinos, Wuuluman, NSW
Sale average $5226
Mumblebone Merinos offered 400 rams at its annual on-property sale this year, the second highest offering of the 194 studs analysed for our rankings.
Yet despite such a big offering - and 99 per cent clearance - the stud, located east of Wellington, produced the third highest average of all those studs.
The $5226 average is believed to be a NSW on-property record average, and was certainly the highest reported for the state in 2022.
The $24,000 top priced ram sold to first-time buyers, Willera Merinos at Serpentine, Victoria.
4. Yarrawonga, Harden, NSW
Sale average $4975
A sale of average of $4975 across 280 rams sold was a sure sign of the strength of the rams offered by Yarrawonga Merino Stud at Harden.
And a sale top of $26,000, followed by sales of $22,000 (paid twice), $20,000, $18,000, $16,000 and $14,000 was an even greater sign of its consistent offering.
Yarrawonga Stud co-principal Steve Phillips described it as "an incredible sale".
"It shows the strength of the wool market and the demand for Merino sheep is still strong."
5. Charinga Merinos, Berrimal, Victoria
Sale average $4652
Charinga Merinos is owned by Banvie's Polinghorne family, so it is no surprise to see the stud so high in the Merino sale rankings.
The stud sold 89 rams to a top of $12,000, and an average of $4652, in a joint sale with Banavie. The average is for the Charinga portion of the sale.
Again, it was West Australian buyers snapping up the top lots.
For Charinga stud principal Roger Polkinghorne, having WA buyers back in person was "very pleasing".
"It's good for them to be able to see the sheep, the standard and general type of the sheep."
While last year's sale saw a ram sell for a top of $30,000, the sale average this year climbed 24 per cent.
6. Langdene Merinos, Dunedoo, NSW
Sale average $4585
A stud record average of $4585 and a top of $15,000 for 129 rams capped off a successful 2022 for Langdene Merino Stud of Dunedoo.
The average broke the previous stud record average of $3946, set just last year, by 16 per cent.
The Cox family's Langdene stud began in 1981 with the purchase of 800 world-famous Haddon Rig ewes.
7. Poll Boonoke, Conargo, NSW
Sale average $4581
Poll Boonoke is one of the most famous wool names in Australia - if not the world. And few wouldn't know of its sister stud Wanganella, the foundation stud for so many wool clips.
Both owned by Australian Food and Agriculture, they share their annual sale. And both studs had a memorable sale day in 2022.
Poll Boonoke sold 186 rams to a top of $48,000 and average of $4581.
Wanganella topped at $19,000 and averaged $4511. But with 45 rams offered and sold, it failed to make the criteria for our ranking, of 50 rams offered.
It was a big year for Australian Food and Agriculture, winning the Australian Supreme Merino Ram at Dubbo in August and the Champion Australian Merino All Purpose Ram at Bendigo in July.
8. Toland Poll Merino, Violet Town, Victoria
Sale average $4531
Toland Poll Merino didn't just beat last year's average price for its sale of 80 rams - it knocked it out of the paddock.
Its average price of $4531 for the 2022 sale was up 66 per cent on last year's average of $2719.
Two rams sold in the 2022 sale for $10,500, demonstrating the consistency of the offering.
Toland Stud co-principal Anna 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."
9. Lachlan Merinos, Forbes, NSW
Sale average $4492
A top price of $80,000 - the equal highest on-farm Merino ram price recorded in 2022 - helped propel Lachlan Merinos to an average price of $4492 for 176 rams sold in its 2022 sale.
It achieved the spectacular result despite having to move the sale due to wet conditions on its property.
The top price was more than four times the $18,000 top achieved in Lachlan's 2021 sale.
10. Roseville Park, Dubbo, NSW
Sale average $4345
Another heavy hitter in the wool industry, Roseville Park proved itself a top 10 performer in 2022.
In fact, Matthew and Cherie Coddington's stud broke two on-property records at its 2022 sale - a stud high top of $28,000 and record average of $4345 for a full clearance of 235 rams.
Other sales of $22,000 and $21,000 further showed the strong demand for Roseville Park rams.
