The top-priced ram from Kirkdale Southdown stud, Evandale, Tasmania has been snapped up by a Victorian breeder but sires also went as far away as Queensland.
Burando Southdown stud principal Tim Fincham, Yea, picked up the ram, lot 26, for $3200.
Kirkdale principal Andrew Hogarth, Evandale, said the ram, from a home bred sire and ewe, was reared as a triplet.
"We probably should have kept this bloke," Mr Hogarth said.
"He has great length, style and top-line and is good on his feet.
"He is hard to fault."
The stud sold 59 of the 75 Southdown rams it offered, for an average of $1204.
Kirkdale also sold 18 of 21 Southdown ewes, to $1000, averaging $535 and had a full clearance of 15 Southdown/Charollais rams, to $1500, av $1107.
As of late October, the top-priced ram, sired by Kirkdale 160206, had a birth weight (Bwt) of 0.40 kilograms a weaning weight (Wwt) of 7.42kg and post weaning weight (Pwwt) of 11.28kg.
The ram also had sheep breeding values of a post-weaning fat (Pfat) of -0.06, a post-weaning eye muscle depth (Pemd) of 0.23 and a terminal carcase production (TCP) index figure of 114.30.
Mr Hogarth said in the current climate, the sale went well.
"He is just a very tidy, presentable sheep - the right type of Southdown.
"I had a $3000 reserve on him, so if he hadn't made that I was going to keep him.
"But you can't keep every one."
He said he hadn't done anything different in the last 12 months, apart from continually trying to improve.
"We use new genetics, the animals presented very well, and - as everyone told me - they sold themselves," he said.
The top-seller was probably sired by Kirkdale 160206, "one of the best rams I have ever produced," he said.
"I have sold semen from him to New Zealand and six or eight studs in Australia have used the semen as well.
"He probably put me on the map."
Mr Fincham said the ram had "overall balance and classic Southdown features."
He said the ram's grandmothers were in the top 1 percent of breed for intramuscular fat, which was related to eating quality.
"That's the last progeny of that ram," he said.
"The ewe it's out of has been performing well - so it's consistency of breeding."
Mr Fincham said climate would not be an issue.
"Australian Southdowns are breeding for the climate, that's any climate in Australia.
"He is not a woolly sheep, by a long way, he is a very clean sheep."
Mr Hogarth said most of the ewes went to Victorian producers.
A spokesman for Woodiwiss and Webb, Whitemore, said AuctionsPlus activity was very strong with ewes and rams going to Bairnsdale, Hamilton, Newtown, Redan, and Dalveen, Queensland.
Several lots purchased through Auctionsplus also stayed within Tasmania
Webb and Woodiwiss livestock agent Mark Webb, Whitemore, said it was a "very rewarding" to see rams going into Queensland.
"Kirkdale has been breeding Southdowns for a long, long time and had a very good quality line up, right through the catalogue," Mr Webb said.
"They presented very, very well - there were a lot of repeat clients there and a couple of new ones, as well."
He said this year agents were seeing a lot of producers had kept older age ewes back.
"A lot of people were unhappy with the mutton market, at the time, seasonal conditions were good so they decided to hold that older age group back," he said.
"Now they are in the predicament of selling two age groups, so their ram requirements are always going to be lower."
He said any sheep with good figures and genetics was still "well sought after."
Andrew Miller
I'm a general reporter with Stock & Land, with a special interest in irrigation issues. I completed my cadetship, with the Age, in 1980. Over my career, I've worked for ABC radio news (Mt Isa, Qld) and at provincial and suburban newspapers.
I'm a general reporter with Stock & Land, with a special interest in irrigation issues. I completed my cadetship, with the Age, in 1980. Over my career, I've worked for ABC radio news (Mt Isa, Qld) and at provincial and suburban newspapers.
