CELEBRATING its 90th anniversary Darriwell stud also achieved its best sale result when 115 of 120 rams sold at auction, topping at $9000 and averaging $2325 at the Jones family’s 32nd annual on-property sale at Trundle last Friday.
The sale cleared 64 Merino rams to a top at $9000 and $2359 average while 51 Poll Merinos topped at $3800 to average $2282.
Attracted to the sale-topper during a visit to the recent Rabobank Dubbo Merino National, Les and Annette Amos, Burrenbah Merinos, Mungindi, attended the on-property sale especially to buy the 19 micron ram weighing 120 kilograms, a son of Darriwell 3.1 (Buddha) the grand champion medium wool ram at Bendigo 2015).
“We first saw him at Dubbo and liked his great free-growing good length staple,” Mr Amos said.
“He’s a modern Merino with very correct structure and there’s a soft look about him.”
The Amos family join 2800 Merino ewes and breed rams from 150 special ewes which this ram will cover within the flock growing an average 19 to 20 micron wool, cutting an average 6.5kg fleece with 100 per cent lambing.
A Poll Merino ram was selected and sale proceeds donated by the Jones family to the McGrath Foundation’s community funding of the Lachlan Health Service’s Breast Care Nurse, Dianne Green and sold for $3000.
Buying the top-priced poll ram among a draft of three averaging $3333 was Allan Ireland of Tullibigeal, in his second year of ram buying at Darriwell. The $3800 top poll was growing 19.2 micron wool and weighed 108kg.
His brother, Terry, bought for the first time and secured four rams averaging $2250 and topping at $2400 twice.
A regular buyer, Farm and Pastoral Management, “Boomey Park”, Larras Lee, paid an average $2991 for 11 rams including the $6000 second-top ram by Darriwell 303, one of the stud’s leading wool sires, which was growing 18.6 micron wool and weighed 112kg.
Clients of long standing, Rob and Belinda Neale, “Lockerbie”, Condobolin, returned and bought 12 rams for a $2233 average with four topping the draft at $2600 each.
Beatrice Body and daughter, Bridget, “Ulupna”, Graman, returned for the fourth year to secured four rams averaging $2550 and topping at $3000 twice.
John Glanville, “Arramagong”, Grenfell, also returned and bought 10 rams to average $2000 and top at $2500, while the near-by Nicholson family bought eight rams topping at $2400 three times to average $2088.
The sale was conducted by Hartin Schute Bell, Narromine, and McCarron Cullinane, Forbes, with Jason Hartin and Adam Chudleigh sharing auction duties.