Tasmanian ultrafine stud Merino breeder, Nick Ferrar, bought the top-priced ram at the Rayner family’s Pomanara on-property stud sale at Sallys Flat sight unseen.
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Research to find a suitable mainland superfine stud flock to inject new blood into his Sally Peak stud at Buckland near Hobart led Mr Ferrar to Pomanara.
He found the Pomanara flock had similar wool to his own so he made contact with stud principal, Geoff Rayner, by email.
They exchanged information and photos which culminated in the selection of lot 18 in the Pomanara sale catalogue - a 91kg, 15.1 micron son of a ram the Rayners bought from the Glenara stud, Victoria, in 2014.
Others also had their eye on the two-year-old ram and Mr Ferrar, a senior agronomist with Elders in Hobart, had to bid to $2700 by phone at last Saturday’s sale to secure his new sire.
“He was everything I needed. He had an even coverage of wool and the barrel and constitution I was after,” Mr Ferrar said.
He had a 2.2-micron standard deviation (SD) and a 14.6 per cent co-efficient of variation in fibre diameter (CV).
Mr Rayner said a decision by his family (including son, James, a full-time shearer) to increase the size of their sheep was starting to pay dividends.
They run about 320 stud ewes and cull heavily to achieve their breeding objectives.
“We have been nudging it (size) up, it won’t happen overnight but it is starting to come,” he said.
A total 23 rams were sold at auction for an average $1232 while three passed-in lots were sold after the sale.
The second top-priced ram, a 16.7 micron, 86kg sire from the Mutrie family, was snapped up by Gerard Morrison, Windeyer, for $2000.
Traditional superfine grower, Neil Carey, and his wife, Janet, "Kashmir", Wee Jasper, bought three rams to a top of $1300 and an average $1067.
Mr Carey runs about 9000 sheep with his brother, Peter.
They were looking for rams with traditional Italian type wool, with good crimp, style and colour.
They have also ceased mulesing and so are picky with the rams they select, also seeking plainer bodied types with no excess apron down their front.
"We've actually ceased to mules this year in response to customer wishes," Mr Carey said.
"With the right chemical and right management we reckon we can achieve the result."
The Careys’ top ram was from the Glenara family and measured 16.7 micron with a 2.4-micron SD and 14.4 per cent CV.
Gary and Linda O'Reilly, "Tresham", Hargraves, also bought three rams through John Gray, Schute Bell, Bathurst.
They sought a range of wool traits to lift their wool quality and production across their 2500 head flock.
The long-time buyers at Pomanara topped at $1700 and averaged $1566.
Their top ram measured 16.6 micron, 2.3-micron SD and 13.9pc CV.
Another long-time buyer, Don Cooke, Georges Plains, sought two rams, one he bought for $800, the other at $1500.
He said the $800 ram was excellent value for money being from one of the stud's old and proven families and had stylish wool with good cover and would put more wool on his sheep.
The selling agents were Landmark with Marcus Schembri, Landmark Bathurst, the auctioneer.
