Cressbrook Merinos drew a crowd of mostly repeat buyers to it’s on-property ram sale at “Cressbrook”, Armidale, on Friday.
Reaching a top of $4000, the sale saw 87 of the 100 rams offered sell for a clearance of 87 per cent and average of $1784.
Peter and Guy Croft, “Wongalee”, Uralla, were the top bidders on the day, purchasing Lot 6, Cressbrook 160064.
The ram had Australian Sheep Breeding Values (ASBVs) of 10 per cent for youth clean fleece weight (CFW), -24 for youth worm egg count (WEC), fibre production plus (FB+) index of 138, and Merino production (MP) index of 128.
Peter Croft said his family had been buying from Cressbrook for 60 years, and kept returning year after year because of the suitability of the rams for their country at Uralla.
Roy Robertson, Roberston Grazing, “Wanderriby”, Wollomombi, bought the second highest selling ram, Cressbrook 160032, for $3800. The ram had a youth CFW of 16pc, youth WEC of -72, FB+ index of 135 and MP index of 135.
Mr Robertson also purchased the top-priced poll ram, Cressbrook 160031, for $3600. It had a youth CFW of 18.8pc, youth WEC of -66, FB+ index of 130, and MP index of 138.
Top volume buyer on the day was Forster & Sons, “Abington”, Uralla, who took home 14 rams topping at $2600 two times and averaging $1728.
The Swales Partnership from “Woodlands”, Torryburn, purchased 10 rams for a top of $2200 and average of $1480.
The sale was conducted by Landmark Armidale, with John Settree, Landmark, Dubbo, as the auctioneer.