A small but competitive crowd of buyers wanting to boost their stock of crossbred ewes headed to Hamilton Regional Livestock Exchange for the Hamilton & District Stock Agents Association's store ewe sale.
About 1250 store quality ewes were yarded by agents, with prices fluctuating for crossbred ewes between $84 to $234 with the whole sale averaging $138 a head.
The top price for 1.5-year-old ewes was for a lot of 36 first-cross Border Leicester ewes from Seber Rise, which sold for $234.
JM Ellis & Co stock agent Jack Hickey said that the sale was strong despite the current state of where the sheep job is currently, where there was a slight oversupply.
"I thought we had a pretty strong sale where many sheep met the market , and some of the lines of dispersal sheep had a bit of type and style of them too," he said.
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He said quick seasonal changes in some parts had affected parts of the market, but most producers are doing well to prepare sheep to the best quality they can.
"The tap got turned off early December for some, and it hasn't really rained since," he said.
"We are in a situation now where at the beginning of 2023, some have a few more stock on , but I think if people do a good job of it, they will still be paid for it."
"If you're going to sell a store lamb, be aware that there's just not enough competition out there to have store lambs making more than what they are, but there is good quality out there."
Brooklyn sold a good quality pen of 26 1.5-year-old Border Leicester/Merino first-cross ewes for $200 and a pen of 38 2.5-year-old Border Leicester/Merino first-cross ewes for the same price.
Barry and Lynne Roycroft attended the sale as they had recently sold their Glenormiston property and had a dispersal run on offer.
They yarded over 400 sheep in total, with one pen of 56 1.5-year-old Border Leicester/Romney-cross ewes sold for $214.
Barry Roycroft said he appreciated that people saw the value in his sheep, which he said he had a passion for ever since coming back from competing in the equestrian competition at the 1964 Tokyo Olympics.
"I went away to compete in the Tokyo Olympics in 1964, and pretty much bought a property in 1966, and we've been farming at Glenormiston ever since," he said.
"We've always loved running Romney-cross sheep producing fat lambs, and while at times you don't always make a fortune farming, it certainly is a satisfactory lifestyle."
Mr Roycroft said while he did enjoy running sheep, he believed that "as you get older, you can't always do what you used to,"
In the composite run, Kookaburra Heights sold 42 1.5-year-old Chrome sires for $172.
Heathvale was also undergoing a full dispersal of their sheep, with one pen of 112 1.5-year-old Chrome sires selling for $130.
Of the older sheep on sale, Arrunga also sold a pen of 64 2.5-year-old Primeline Ewes for $164.
