LOCALS competed with Tasmanian buyers to grab rams at Nareeb Nareeb Merino stud's on-property sale at Nareeb on Friday.
The sale wholly consisted of spring-drop Poll Merino rams, a first for the stud, with two big volume buyers helping the clearance rate surpass 90 per cent off the back of an excellent season in the region.
The stud sold 94 of 100 rams to a top price of $3600, averaging $1952.
The $3600 ram was Lot 62, Nareeb Nareeb 221564, which was sold to regular buyer Peter Waters, Rockview, Nareen.
The 76-kilogram ram was sired by a ram from the stud's DSMR22 syndicate and recorded fleece figures of 17 micron, a standard deviation (SD) of 4.3 and a co-efficient of variation (CV) of 22.6.
Mr Waters purchased six lots in total, which he said were all "good-doing rams with free-growing wool".
"They all pump out a bit of weight as well, and if they have a good bit of length, that works well," he said.
"We join our sheep usually at the start of January and hopefully [these rams] will do the job for us like they normally do.
"We generally give ourselves a bit of time before the sheep go to work."
Nareeb Nareeb stud principal Richard Beggs said the stud was pleased that a strong clientele supported the sale.
Mr Beggs said the past year was one of the "best autumn and winters combined" in his farming career.
"It's really set the sheep up," he said.
"This spring-drop rams would probably weigh 6-7 kilograms heavier than last year.
"I think that reflects the nutrition they got through those seasons."
But despite the positive year for the stud, he admitted there was some anxiety before the sale.
"We were a bit nervous to be honest with the commodity prices back as far as they were, and we were especially worried about how we'd go clearance wise," he said.
"But to have a 94pc clearance rate was great."
Pashanger Estate, Longford, Tas, was the biggest volume buyer and was willing to spend a bit more than the total sale's average, with their 19 lots averaging $2168.
Their purchases also included the second-highest-priced ram of the day, Lot 22, 220259, for $3400.
Lot 22 was sired by Nareeb Nareeb 200320 and had a micron of 17.6, an SD of 4.1, and a CV of 23.8.
Ellenthorpe, Ross, Tas, bought five rams averaging $1260, and Cressy House, Cressy, Tas, also bought two rams averaging $2800.
"About 10 years ago, we actually purchased a Tasmanian stud that was founded on Nareeb blood in the early stages and was classed by our classer at the time Sandy McCurdy, along the same lines as what he was classing the sheep here," Mr Beggs said.
He said the stud's complete transition to Poll Merinos meant there was a conscious breeding focus on a depth of body without it getting too big.
He said the line up this year was the best he had seen regarding carcase and shape, with good work happening in "sweetening the wool".
"We've always tried to keep our sheep modern, and commercially as much as we love the appeal of a big, horn ram, they mainly don't make sense anymore," he said.
