A trial a few years ago with some old semen on a handful of ewes has paid off for the Thalabah stud at Laggan.
The semen was from the 1988 national champion ram, Koonwarra 321, bred by John Williams, then of Koonwarra and now of Thalabah, and the breeding program produced five lambs from that sire, with one ram offered for sale.
That one ram topped the stud's on-property sale on Friday at $5200 when sold to Chris and Stephanie Croker, Ayrston, Golspie.
The May 2018-drop 20.1-micron ram had a 3.2-micron standard deviation, coefficient of variation of 15.8 per cent and comfort factor 99.5pc.
Mr Williams said its sire was bred from the Merryville Uniform sire line and its dam was of Glendonald blood.
The ram was a clear favourite among bidders with the next highest price being $3000 in a sale where 54 of the 60 lots were cleared at auction to average $1541.
Chris and Stephanie Croker, Ayrston, Golspie, who have used Thalabah rams for about 20 years, bought the sale topper to use in their flock of a couple of thousand ewes.
"I was looking for a good body, with plenty of width and length and depth and plenty of wool on it," said Mr Croker.
He said the Thalabah sheep cut a lot of wool and also produced a good carcase.
"They mature early if you want to sell the wether portion as lambs, or you can grow them out with good weights in your wethers at two years of age," Mr Croker said.
The 321 son was one of five horned rams the Crokers bought to average $2880.
"The rams this year were better grown and the wool was better," he said.
"They're making moves here that are meeting today's requirements in the wool and meat markets."
Auctioneer Rick Power, Landmark Boorowa, said most buyers were after "well-made sheep, with good wool that measures well".
"People can see the investment that Thalabah is making back into the stud and what it is producing," he said.
This included the artificial insemination program using semen from a rams from Langdene, Dunedoo, and from Greenfields, Willalo, South Australia, plus rams purchased from Rangeview, Darkan, WA, Glendonald, Nhill, Victoria, and Alfoxton, Armidale.
Thalabah's investment was well supported by Victorian buyer, Leigh Watts, St Arnaud, who attended with his agent, Damian Drum, Landmark St Arnaud, and bought five rams to top at $3000 and average $2140.
His family's property, Springdale, includes 2428 hectares, running about 2200 commercial ewes and had been reasonably lucky with the season.
Based in a 432 millimetre rainfall area, Mr Watts said the farm had 279mm for the year so far, most of which fell in the growing season.
Mr Watts, a Thalabah client of 34 years, runs Springdale with his brothers, Peter and David, in a family partnership.
He said they used Thalabah rams for their soft, productive wool and ability to keep the water out and was pleased with their performance in his operation, having shorn 200 more sheep this year which produced an extra 26 bales of wool.
Mr Watts expects the sheep market to remain buoyant due to the lack of numbers and demand for protein in Asia on the back of the African swine flu.
Two of the passed-in lots were sold straight after the sale.
The selling agent was Landmark Crookwell.
