Bundilla Merinos at Young sold 295 rams out of 300 offered for a clearance of 98 per cent, average of $3789 and top of $11,000, which was reached twice.
Bidders were welcomed to the Baldwin family's brand new shearing shed and selling complex, completed just days before the sale.
Bundilla put up 63 more rams than last year but still managed to improve their average by more than $500. The competition did not wane throughout the huge draft but the first 10 sold exceptionally well, averaging $6100.
Bundilla stud principal Rick Baldwin said they were overwhelmed by the result.
"Without doubt the line of rams was a step up again, I don't think the quality was taken away by putting more rams up, I think the quality was probably better," Mr Baldwin said.
The first of the top priced rams was bought by Gary Simpson and Alison Howgate of The Trossachs stud, Dunkeld, Victoria.
Mr Simpson, who is also an agent with Arcadian Wool, Geelong, said he picked the ram for his size and richness of wool.
"I think he'll have an impact on our stud at Dunkeld, we just need a bit of scale and doing ability," Mr Simpson said.
The ram was a twin and weighed 111 kilograms, had 19.1 microns, a standard deviation (SD) of 3.1, coefficient of variation (CV) of 16.2 and fleece weight (YCFW) of 34.5.
His had a post weaning weight of 4.79, yearling weight of 7.65, number of lambs weaned (NLW) of 5.7 and Dual Purpose Merino Index of 188.
Mr Baldwin said the ram was by one of their best young sires, Bundilla 171495.
"He had the largest population of rams in the sale, he's bred very well for us," Mr Baldwin said.
The second of the $11,000 rams was purchased by a Tasmanian buyer via StockLive.
The heaviest rams in the draft, he weighed 119kg, with 19.6 microns, 3 SD, 15.3 CV, 31.9 YCFW.
He also showed off top growth figures with a PWWT of 7.48, YWT of 11.11 and Dual Purpose Merino Index of 205.
"Across the board he's a very balanced, pretty impressive animal and visually very good too," Mr Baldwin said.
He was sired by Bundilla 180074, another young sire, who like 171495, goes back to Bundilla 150009 one of the stud's most renowned and top performing rams.
The volume buyer of the day was new client, Gordon Welsh of Larras Lake North, Molong who purchased a very large team of 25 rams from the stud.
Repeat clients the Kelly family of Rugby Station, Rugby and the Simpson family of Nowranie, Oaklands were next in line, each taking home 14 rams for an average of $5700 and $4785 respectively.
The sale was interfaced by Stocklive for the first time and conducted by Nutrien with Paul Dooley and Rick Power sharing the hammer through the catalogue.
- Full report in next week's edition of The Land
