GREY skies and rain greeted buyers at Clovernook Poll Merinos' second annual on-property ram sale on Thursday.
A total of 14 registered bidders gathered at the Whillock family's Woolbrook property in the hopes of taking home their share of the 39 Poll Merino rams on offer.
In total, 26 of the 39 rams sold during the live auction at an average of $1932.
The crowd in attendance did not have to wait long for the top ram to be auctioned off, as the fourth ram in the catalogue, Clovernook tag 200121 topped the sale at $6500.
The 18-month-old August-shorn son of the Miramoona 140012 ram weighed 95 kilograms, and was rated in the top five per cent of the MerinoSelect database for yearling fibre diametre coefficient of variation (YFDCV), yearling staple length (YSL) and post weaning worm egg count (PWEC).
Purchased by Frank and Jill Spilsbury, Keston, Guyra, the high-seller also rated in the top 10pc on the Merino Production Plus and Dual Purposes Plus Indexes.
Keston manager David Taylor, who purchased the ram on behalf of the Spilsburys, said the ram "ticked a lot of our boxes".
"We're repeat buyers and we bought some at the stud's first sale last year and they performed really well," Mr Taylor said.
"I think this ram had a really long staple, bright wool, will be easy to handle and be an easy-doing sheep.
"We're west of Guyra and like here at Woolbrook, we have had a lot of rain in the past 12 months, but we know these rams can handle it.
"From here, he will be shorn next week before going straight out with the older flock ewes and we like to keep a close eye on these ones to see how they perform, but we're confident they'll do fine."
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Clovernook Poll Merinos stud principal Todd Whillock echoed Mr Taylor's sentiments, saying the ram "had a really balanced dataset."
"He had the growth, the carcase, the wool traits and very strong worm resistance on a plain, non-musled body," Mr Whillock said.
"I guess also being a twin as well as a double-polled ram really helped him draw some interest from buyers because that's the sort of thing a lot of them are looking for.
"I suppose when you package all of those things together, it certainly makes for a great ram that is going to attract some interest."
The top-priced ram was one of two the Spillsbury family bought at an average of $4000.
However, the sale's busiest volume buyer was Veoila Environmental Service, Tarrago, which purchased 11 rams at an average of $2181, while other bulk buyers included the Smith family, Wee Waa, five rams at an average of $1150, the Chaffey family, Somerton, three rams at an average of $1750 and AMD Rural Contractors, Mt Fairy, two rams at an average of $1750.
"I think the rams have held up magnificently considering they've had about 600mm of rain on their backs since they were shorn in August," Mr Whillock said.
"It's great to see the nourishment in the wool, the lightness, and brightness as well, which is something we are really focused on as well as structure.
"This was our second on-property sale and we're delighted with the result, grateful for everyone's support and we will look to continue to build on those top-end sheep."
Thursday's sale was conducted by Elders Walcha with Lincoln McKinlay, Inverell, auctioneering.
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Billy Jupp
Billy is a Senior Livestock Journalist for the Queensland Country Life based in Toowoomba. He has worked for a variety of different ACM mastheads during the past five years including the Namoi Valley Independent, Northern Daily Leader and The Land.
Billy is a Senior Livestock Journalist for the Queensland Country Life based in Toowoomba. He has worked for a variety of different ACM mastheads during the past five years including the Namoi Valley Independent, Northern Daily Leader and The Land.
