RECORDS tumbled at the fourth annual Tattykeel Australian White sale last week. A large gathering were witness to the record fall for the Australian White breed.
The sale of stud ewes, stud rams and flock rams saw 149 of 160 ewes cleared at auction giving a 93 per cent clearance, a top of $4000 and average of $2447.
There were 23 stud rams offered for a 100 per cent clearance, a top of $38,000 and a staggering average of $9717 and 81 flock rams offered with 79 sold giving a 97 per cent clearance to a top of $4000 four times.
Tattykeel Leader 150772, a July 2015 ram sired by Tattykeel 140073, saw the hammer fall to the top of $38,000. He was purchased by Bungarley Australian Whites and Cottage Creek Australian Whites both at Tarcutta.
“He is a fantastic example of the Australian white breed,” Bungarley principal Mr Dan Lustenberger said.
“He has great carcass, good muscle and carries this with a fantastic amount of softness that he is breeding onto his progeny,”
“His structure is impeccable and his black points are perfect.”
“This ram provides everything that my clients, here at Bungarley, are looking for in this breed. He had seven sons in the stud ram line up and upwards of 20 in the flock rams,”
“His ability to breed great Australian white type is seen throughout his daughters, this for me is reason enough for purchasing him.”
“He is a proven sire and will lift our stud genetics tenfold. We will be very excited to get his progeny on the ground next year with Embryo Transfer(ET) programs and Artificial Insemination(AI) programs coming up in the next few months.”
“The strong sale is a indication that farmers of the haired breeds are becoming very interested as they see the breed excel within the prime lamb industry.”
Co-purchaser, Tony Rutter, principal of Cottage Creek Australian Whites liked the ram.
“I have been watching “Leader” since he was a lamb and he has always caught my eye.” he said
“When his first batch of lambs arrived my estimations of them was they were 30 per cent better than the pack.”
“We could have purchased one of his lambs for half his cost but watering a proven sire down was not an option.”
“I had no ceiling price he was going on my truck after the sale. You can't put a price on a sire that changes the game as much as him.”
The second top priced ram went for $16,000 to repeat buyers Nip and Ben Rowney, “Gamadale”, Lascelles, Victoria.
“We like that he has plenty of meat, good hair pattern, very good on his feet, structure is excellent, he is an outstanding ram,” Mr Rowney said.
“We hope he will give us that bit more quality that we are looking for all the time. They are easy care sheep that are quick growing.”
First time auction attendees, Nicholas and Jessica Baker, Red Tank Australian Whites, Nyngan, were volume buyers over the sale. They have purchased from Tattykeel previously.
They started with 24 ewes, Mr Baker said “there was consistency through the whole lot. They had good characteristics and good black feet.” That trait is not important on their property but for on selling to their clients.
Picking up 10 flock rams that will compliment their commercial flock of 1000 Dorper Australian White cross ewes, Mrs Baker said that they were chasing numbers.
“We didn't go for the top end but the consistency across the sale let us get a few flock rams at a good price.”
Also added to their haul were two stud rams.
“We are chasing the lines that they are bred from, we know the history and they have good feet, good size and great shedding.”
Graham Gilmore, Co-principal of Tattykeel, thought that it was great to see people coming back, they are backing and happy with the product in a tough year. “We are over the moon.” Mr Gilmore said
“There were also good number of new buyers.”
“The product is working. We are using groundbreaking technology that is producing results from testing done at the Townsville University on the eating quality. This is drawing comparisons from others to Wagyu beef.”
“Letting the top priced ram go, we can concentrate on our younger rams and this will help improve the breed overall.”
“This sale is trending up, we put more sheep in to try to hold the price down. The quality is still there and you get what you pay for.”
“The last record was last year $28,000, the year before $27,000 so the sale is solid right through.”
“We put sensible reserves on the sheep but people can still come and buy top end ewes and flock rams for a reasonable price.”
“Stock went to all over the eastern seaboard for this sale. From Cunnamulla, Queensland to Tasmania.”
“The breed does well in cold areas, green areas and hot & dry areas. The hair component is adaptable, its shorter in hot areas and longer in cold areas.”
“We have previously sent stock internationally from hot tropical countries to Inner Mongolia that gets to minus 35-40 degrees, they work in all areas.”
The sale was conducted by Landmark Bathurst and QPL Rural, with guest auctioneer, Miles Pfitzner, GTSM, manning the rostrum.
