Australian Sheep and Wool Show: Results, rams sell to $20,000
Three studs achieved the top price at Bendigo yesterday, with the Australian Sheep and Wool Show ending on a high with the ram sale.
Merino rams sold to $20,000 three times as a mix of stud and commercial buyers secured genetics at the Australian Sheep and Wool Show Merino ram sale.
Three key studs - Glenpaen, Nesrtane and Merryville Poll - all achieved the top price at the sale that averaged $5687 for the 89 rams offered.
Nurtien stud stock’s Peter Godbolt said it was a solid sale where there was value in places for those willing to bid up.
“There was some very good buying for studs and some value for commercial buyers,” Mr Godbolt said.
“We had three rams go to Western Australia, a couple to Queensland and all through Victoria and NSW.”
Rod Miller from Glenpaen at Brimpaen capped off a steller show where he was awarded the grand champion Merino ram by selling the same sire for $20,000 to the Kurrajong Park Merino stud at Delungra, NSW.
The two-year-old ram, which tested 20.3 micron and weighed 135 kilograms was sired by Yarrawonga 1162.
“I had hoped that his ram would go to a stud buyer,” Mr Miller said.
“You can’t keep them all but we kept 200 doses of semen from this ram.”
Merryville Poll at Boorowa also achieved $20,000 for a 16.4-micron ram, which sold to a partnership of Beverley Merinos at Redesdale at and Mt Chillicum at Ballyrogan.
The other ram to make $20,000 was an 18.3-micron sire from Nerstane, which sold to T and C Noble from Dolbel.
Of the 89 rams offered, 13 were passed in at auction for a clearance of 85 per cent.
SATURDAY: TIME TO SHINE FOR BORDER LEICESTER BREED
The only borders that were making headlines this year were sheep as it proved third time lucky for the feature breed at the Australian Sheep and Wool Show.
With covid meaning both the 2020 and 2021 events were called off, it followed that the Border Leicester feature showing was also postponed.
But with more than 130 entries, the breed made a statement on Saturday not only in terms of numbers but also its place in the sheep industry.
Victorian Border Leicester Association president Heather Stoney from Ellingerrin at Modewarre led by example, and took the coveted broad ribbon for grand champion ram.
The winning ram had not even been born when Heather and husband Murray travelled to Bendigo last year, only to be turned around when the show was cancelled at the last minute.
“We literally unloaded the rams, fed them, heard the news, loaded them back up and went home,” Mrs Stoney said.
But the wait proved worth it when their young sire won top ram honours, with raw figures of 12mm of fat, 40mm of muscle and weighed just more than 100kg.
Her stud also took out the best pen of two shorn rams and best pen of three rams in a stellar outing\.
While her own success was rewarding and her best results to date, Mrs Stoney said the large numbers at the feature show reflected a renewed interest in first cross ewes and in turn, for Border Leicester rams.
“The first cross ewe (Border Leicester-Merino) is an Australia-wide sheep,” she said.
“It can do well in the Riverina and it can do well in Gippsland and it is the right kind of ewe for all of the country.
“I really think it is the greatest maternal line that has ever been bred.”
Mrs Stoney said her father had bred first cross ewes and she had the love of them instilled at an early age.
She started her Border Leicester stud in 1975 and sees a big role still for the breed in the prime lamb industry.
“The first cross is an all purpose sheep now, and the wether portion is well accepted in the industry and there is a place for the wethers, whereas they used to be hard to sell or not make a lot,” Mrs Stoney said.
“As Border Leicester breeders, we have been able to get eye muscle area up and fat down so the first cross wether lamb is now very marketable.
“And of course the ewes are always in demand with the price level set by how the prime lamb market is performing.”
Mrs Stoney runs about 200 Border Leicester ewes and sells about 100-120 rams a year.
SATURDAY: RIVERINA STUDS DUEL FOR DUAL
Riverina Merino studs cemented their reputation for their ability to breed true dual-purpose sheep at the Australian Sheep and Wool Show at Bendigo.
The champion and reserve champion awards for the Australian all purpose Merino class went to Poll Boonoke at Conargo, NSW, and Willandra at Jerilderie, NSW, in a hotly contested field which included entries from as far away as Western Australia.
The award uses a mix of scanned figures and traditional judging to pick a winner and is the baby of Phil Toland, Toland Merinos at Violet Town.
While entries were small when the class was created, close to 60 sheep competed at this year’s show, keen to show how their rams perform both visually and information from scanning the animals.
It has now become the class many studs want to win and that was the case for Poll Boonoke, who made it two in a row, albeit the last time they won was in 2019.
Justin Campbell from Australian Food and Fibre, Conargo, and stud groom George Sinclair with their Poll Boonoke ram which won the all purpose Merino class which combines objective measurement and judges assessment to find the winner.
Justin Campbell from Australian Food and Fibre, Conargo, and stud groom George Sinclair with their Poll Boonoke ram which won the all purpose Merino class which combines objective measurement and judges assessment to find the winner.
Australian Food and Fibre owns Poll Boonoke and general manager Justin Campbell said the winning ram had the ideal mix of figures and visual appeal.
“This ram won its class at the Hay Sheep Show and was the champion medium wool ram and now he has gone on to win this class which includes figures as well as visual appraisal,” Mr Campbell said.
“He has width, a great topline, and beautiful wool which is soft handling and crimpy.
“He also has great eye muscle area and fat and truly is a dual purpose sheep.”
The ram scored almost perfect points visually for both wool and carcass, and tested 20.1 micron, weighed 120kg and scanned 8mm for fat and 44mm for eye muscle depth.
The reserve champion all purpose ram tested 17.8 micron, weighed 118.5kg and scanned 9mm for fat and 38mm for eye muscle depth.
FRIDAY: VICTORIA SCOOPS POOL IN NATIONAL FLEECE COMPETITION
A stellar run by a Victorian stud has scooped the pool at the Australian Fleece Competition at Bendigo.
Mt Challicum Merino stud at Ballyrogan not only won grand champion fleece but also most successful exhibitor from a field of more than 340 fleeces from around the nation.
The Mt Challicum stud was showing both sheep and fleeces as part of the Australian Sheep and Wool Show and the top fleece was from a ewe that was also competing at the event.
For Mt Challicum principal Phil Hartwich, the results in the fleece competition were reward for a dedicated approach to breeding stylish white wool.
“It’s the best results we have ever had at the fleece competition,” Mr Hartwich said.
“We select our sheep for style, wool cut, quality and evenness and we like to think we breed nice bright stylish wool.”
The stud runs about 500 Merino ewes and about 11,000 commercial sheep so know first hand what it takes to produce a volume of quality fibre.
The prize winning fleece was shorn from a two-year-old ewe, tested 17.2 micron, weighed 7.1kg and tested 46 newtons/kilotex for strength.
The ewe had been shedded and is still being shown, taking out the reserve champion ultrafine sash at judging today.
While the awards and kudos in the fleece competition are a great promotion for the stud, Mr Hartwich said the ability to donate the fleeces to charity was a major factor in continuing to enter.
Participants can elect to donate their fleeces and the money goes to charity, in this case to Lifeline.
“We really like that we can contribute to something worthwhile at the same time as promoting what we do,” Mr Hartwich said.
The Australian Sheep and Wool Show continues over the weekend.
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