Buyers at the 32nd Yalgoo Merino ram sale at Walcha on Saturday left very content but it wasn't just the lamb burgers that had them smiling.
Many were very pleased to fill their orders with a draft of rams from the Nivison family that boasted breed leading figures and profitable characteristics.
Elders agent Lincoln McKinlay was handed the auctioneering duties after the retirement of Andy McGeoch and was able to sell 75 of 79 rams under the hammer for a $2336 average and $8500 top, compared with last year's average of $1741 and top of $4500.
The polled rams were in demand with 23 averaging $3032 compared with 52 horned rams averaging $2028.
Mixed throughout the catalogue were some impressive wool producing rams making upwards of $4000 but the wool shed lit up with excitement when tag number 205, a horned son of Y16063, was knocked down for the top money to Charlie Street and family, Blaxland, Walcha.
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The ram was in the top one per cent for the fibre production plus index (181) and top five per cent for the MP+ index (189), yearling clean fleece weight (32.5) and yearling fibre diameter (-2.7).
With a 16 micron fleece and 147 per cent greasy fleece weight, vendor Jock Nivison was humbled to have a ram bound for such a well-regarded breeding program.
The Streets join up to 4000 Merino ewes including 100 to artificial insemination which they utilise the Yalgoo semen sire offerings.
"He will get 80 of his own ewes and then mop up the AI program to breed a few rams out of him just for our own use," Mr Street said.
"He had a good balance of figures; high fleece weight, fibre diametre, staple strength and a negative WEC (worm egg count).
"Fibre diameter and cut are what I'm chasing, trying to get a fairly good balance and his wool quality too."
Mr Street was one of 23 successful purchasers on the day with AuctionsPlus helping two buyers secure 10 rams alone and acting as an underbidder for an Ilfracombe buyer.
They were J and A Ramsay Family Trust, Garah, who secured five rams averaging $3200 and Michael Brown of Glen Innes with five rams averaging $1200.
Major buying support came from Swales Partnership, Torryburn, with six rams averaging $2208 as did the King family, Waterloo Station, Walcha, with six averaging $1208 and R Watt and Son, Moura, Mandagery, with a draft average of $2083.
Nick Hall of Hall Agriculture acted on behalf of Craig Stott of Stott Ag Services, Kangaroo Island who secured five rams averaging $2550 to be utilised in his flock of mainly Nerstane genetics.
R and G Quihampton of Arelemont at Bendemeer also took home five averaging $1050.
Speaking after the sale, Mr Nivison said the new buying support was exciting with their ram being used in a range of climates across the country.
"Obviously the production of those rams is top of the industry," he said.
"We are not huge marketers but people are obviously seeing the rams are right on paper and obviously right in the flesh as well.
"We try and breed that animal with a really high fleece value and all with good fertility and a bit of carcase and versatile for people in different areas.
"Rams and semen go from Longreach to Kangaroo Island and Tassie so the animals get tested in a lot of different environments and obviously that's all underpinned by some pretty strong wether trial data and on-farm business benchmarking as well."
One supporter in attendance was Cindy Taylor of Longreach in Queensland who wasn't in the market to buy a ram but had seen great success with Yalgoo semen in a flock of 100 ewes.
In six years the micron had dropped from 21.5 to 17.5 but her profits had increased and she was hoping to lower the micron by a few more yet.
Yalgoo itself has aggressively reduced their micron without sacrificing major economic traits.
The Nivisons believe in the next 10 years their commercial ewe flock will be at 15 micron cutting seven kilograms of wool.