Despite uncertainty in the lamb market, excessively wet conditions in many areas, increasing input costs and this being the second Coronga ram sale for the year, the Jackson and Rourke families still sold 100 rams at Friday's sale.
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Held on-property at Orange, the sale topped at $4200 and averaged $1567 for an 80 per cent clearance at auction.
At the opening, James Jackson, Coronga, said "it's been a bit of a challenge this year", with regard to the season, and the lamb market was "a little uncertain", but he was still pleased with how the rams shaped up by sale time.
Regardless of the current uncertainty, he said the longer term outlook for the lamb market was promising, including the potential for growth in regions such as Asia.
The sale topper was Coronga 210646, a low birth weight, well-fleshed and positive fat ram by Coronga 180154.
It had figures of 0.16 for birth weight, 2.62 post weaning eye muscle depth and 0.25 post weaning fat depth.
This was one of two rams bought by Kim Noakes, Bedgerabong, who also paid $2400 for a son of Coronga 190255, which had a high post weaning eye muscle depth figure of 3.3.
Ms Noakes has bought at Coronga for at least 10 years and uses her White Suffolk rams on about 1000 Merino ewes, which are run alongside her family's Karowara Plains Poll Merino stud.
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It was particularly wet in her district, too, with low level flooding making the trip a tad more eventful than usual.
"I battled through 0.4 of a metre of water to get here today," she said.
In second top at $3800 was Coronga 210490, by Coronga 200389, which sold to local buyer, Gilmandyke Pastoral, Belgravia near Orange.
This ram had a high PEMD figure of 3.28 and was one of three rams purchased by Gilmandyke to average $3267.
Volume buyers included the Whitely family, Cudal, who bout four rams to a $2800 top to average $2500; SKH Farming through Elders Walgett bought six rams to a top of $1500 to average $1400; P.L. and I.M. Weston, Cumnock, bought 10 rams to a $1500 top to average $1440, Reedy Creek Partners, Mandagery, bought four rams to a $2400 top to average $1575, R.H. Orr and Sons, Parkes, bought four to a $2800 top to average $1975; Coorah Partnership, Larras Lee, bought nine rams to a $2400 top to average $1856, and Ostini Pastoral, Ophir, bought four to a $1500 top to average $1275.
The sale also included two lots from which the proceeds were donated to charity.
This included Coronga 210439, from which $1500 paid by Elders Dubbo, will go to the Torie Finnane Foundation.
Torie Finnane was a mid wife who lost her life in 2020 three days after giving birth to her third child, who also subsequently spent two weeks in neonatal intensive care before joining her two older siblings and father in Orange.
The foundation aims to provide opportunities for regionally based midwives, nurses and special care nursery staff to undertake futher training and placements with metropolitan tertiary hospitals to develop their skills.
The second charity ram, Coronga 210887, made $1500 for the Molong rugby Club, and was part of a draft of six rams purchased by Larras Pty Ltd, Larras Lake North, Molong, that averaged $1283.
The sale was conducted by Elders with Marty Simmons as auctioneer.
