The Great Southern Supreme Merino ram sale produced the best result in years when the first ram of the sale was knocked down for $21,000 in Canberra this week.
Sold by the Merriman family from Merryville stud, Boorowa, it easily eclipsed last year’s top figure of $10,000, also held by the Boorowa stud.
The 30-month-old ram was knocked down to a syndicate of three studs — Demondrille from Harden, Conrayan at Berridale, and Bocoble at Mudgee.
The ram weighed 123.5 kilograms and had a 16.8-micron fibre diameter.
Merryville sold another ram to $15,500 to a syndicate of two – Garry Seaman, “Corona”, Fullerton, and John Williams of Thalabah Merino stud, Laggan.
Wurrook Merino stud, from Rokewood, Victoria, sold three rams at the sale to a top of $9000.
In total, 35 rams sold from 45 offered for an average of $3367. The average comfortably pushed past last year’s figure of $2558. But the number of rams sold dropped from the 2016 number of 44.
Merryville also scooped the pool in the judging stakes, sashed the supreme exhibit of the show with their four-tooth fine wool march shorn ram after defeating their own poll ram entry which was sashed grand champion poll exhibit.
Grand champion ewe was shown by the Davis family, Demondrille stud, Harden, with their four-tooth fine/medium wool March shorn ewe. A full report of the GSSM show and sale will appear in next week’s edition of The Land.