A STRONG contingent of stud and commercial buyers, some from as far as Victoria, secured genetics from the Douglas family’s Abelene Park Poll Dorset Spring Sale at Woolomin on Thursday, where prices soared to $2400.
Of the 50 Poll Dorset rams on offer, 36 sold through the sale ring to record an average of $1030 and top of $2400 for tag 159T purchased by return buyer Pip Bell, Talbragar, Gravesend.
He didn’t waste anytime securing the ram, placing a bid of $2000 early in the bidding.
The twin August 2017 drop ram weighed 121 kilograms with an eye muscle area of 40 square centimetres and five millimetres of fat.
He was a son of ‘Dozer Yentrac’ 710-15, a new sire for the Douglas family, whom had the biggest eye muscle area of all the rams at Bendigo in 2016.
Mr Bell, a return client of Abelene Park, operates a flock of 70 stud ewes and will join his new sire in March.
He admired the ram’s hindquarter and good top line, with the opportunity to secure new bloodlines, an added bonus.
“I usually use the bigger frame (rams),” he said.
“Now everybody is going to the smaller frame ram so I thought I’d give it a go, see how he goes.”
Co-principal Marshall Douglas said they had kept another son of ‘Dozer Yentrac’ 710-15 and would have otherwise retained the top-selling ram themselves.
“It’s just as good to get them out into other flocks and get them breeding,” he said.
“The strength of the lamb market is what encourages people to keep sourcing good genetics even in the tough times.”
A large number of the commercial buyers were from the local district.
“It’s very heartening to see those fellas (commercial buyers),” Mr Douglas said.
“They are coming from some of the worst hit areas of the drought, to see them still coming and getting rams is a bit of a boost to us.
The second top priced ram came one lot earlier for tag 23T, selling for $2200 to James Gilmour, White Gold Poll Dorset stud, Coolatai.
The son of ‘Jack’ AP 217-11 weighed 116 kilograms with an eye muscle area of 44sq cm and nine millimetres of fat.
A selection of Hybrid and Charollais rams were offered with three selling for an $833 average and a $900 top to the Redman family, Inverell.
The sale also included a portion of Poll Dorset ewes with eight of 15 selling for a $425 average.
Seven of those ewe purchases found a home with new buyer Elizabeth Wilkinson from Victoria.
The sale was conducted by Davidson Cameron and Co.