Burnbrae Poll Merino, Inverleigh, sells top ram to Darriman stud

Burnbrae Poll Merino assistant manager Steven Wishart said he received client interest from the ram being a twin, out of a ewe that continually produced twin lambs.

"His breeding values were right at that top end, he had a lot of trait-leading breeding values and welfare traits are really important to our clients, and reproduction traits as well," he said.

"He was an even ram, he's a rock-solid ram and a twin out of a ewe that's had twins every year so there was a bit of interest because of that."

St Katherines Darriman of Giffard, Darriman, bought the top-priced ram, Lot 1, 220083.

The June-July drop ram, 220083, measured 19.1 microns, had a standard deviation (SD) of 3.4, a coefficient variation (CV) of 17.7 and a comfort factor (CF) of 99.5, and was sired by 609147-2019-190590.

The ram sale had 84 of 99 lots sell to $4700, with an average price of $2405.

Mr Wishart said buyer support came from South Australia, Tasmania and Victoria, and he believed their sale average was within $8 of the 2022 ram sale.

"We're happy with how we've progressed with the current headwinds in the industry," he said.

"We were within about eight dollars of last year's average, it was a great sale, we've got really good support across lots of different states.

"We had quite a few new buyers but previous buyers as well."

Volume buyer Turkeith Station, Birregurra, bought 12 rams, while Woomargama Station, Woomargama, NSW, bought nine rams.

Charles Stewart & Co auctioneer Peter McConachy said he thought it was a "very good sale", and it was his third sale.

"To have 80 per cent clearance, I thought that was very good and the climate we're in at the moment there's a possibility of El Nino and people are experiencing dry," he said.

"It's a credit to Steven in particular that he's one that's been pursuing this side of the industry and I think he's doing a very good job.

"They had two field days prior to the sale, I think the attendance was really good at those and people had a look and were confident enough to buy online."