Border Leicester ram tops sale at $4500

Clearances from the three studs offering rams at the sale were subdued, but as Michael Makeham said, the market was met on the day. "this is where the market is," he said.

North South stud sold 24 rams of the 50 offered to average $1656. Marylands White Suffolks, Wollun sold 30 rams to $2000 for a, 1200 average and Amelie Poll Dorsets, Kentucky sold 30 of 36 offered to $1700 for a $1200 average.

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The top-selling ram was offered by the Makeham family's North South stud, Walcha, and it will be used in a commercial ram program for the new owner's proposal to breed first cross ewes from the merino flock.

Harry Locke, Yerrawun Grazing, said his family had chosen to switch their sheep breeding program focus to first cross ewe production, and the new ram would be joined to selected Border Leicester ewes to provide home-bred rams.

He said the ram's figures and structural appearance made it an easy choice to secure it.

"We're spending a lot on buying Border Leicester sires, so this way, we can reduce our costs.

"We'll be joining all our Merino ewes to Border Leicester rams, and we'll be finishing our first cross wethers from that joining at 50 kilogram plus body weights," Mr Locke said.

"We will sell our ewe lambs as stores at around the 40kg weight range," he said.

He said Yerrawun Grazing has three lines of sheep: Merinos, the first cross ewes and Salway Maternal Composites.

Michael Sweeney, Tallara Walcha bought the top-priced Poll Dorset ram at $1700, one of four he took home. Mr Sweeney also bought a Border Leicester ram and "his first White Suffolk ram" for his sucker lamb breeding program.

"I liked the size and how the (Poll Dorset) ram stood. He had good figures and carried himself well," Mr Sweeney said.

Mr Sweeney said it was the first time he'd bought at the sale, and his new rams would be used immediately to join his flock of 800 first cross ewes.

He works on a July lambing program to have all his lambs turned off for the sucker market by December. The lambs are bought by Everson's Food Processors at Frederickton, just north of Kempsey.

"The sucker market is still strong. The more lambs I can turn off as suckers mean the ewes can do most of the hard work," he said.

He added that any lambs that don't meet the sucker market are finished on barley with grain feeders.

An online bidder bought the $2000 top-priced White Suffolk ram through Auctions Plus, account Nutrien, Ouyen Victoria. They also purchased another ram at $1600.

The top-priced ram had a post-weaning eye muscle depth of 3.40 and a weaning weight ASBV of 12.97.

The Wood Family Trust, Dog Trap, Uralla bought 14 Border Leicester and Poll Dorset rams as the leading volume buyer. This draft included seven Border Leicesters averaging $1500 and seven Poll Dorset rams to, $1400, averaging $1266.

A volume buyer of White Suffolk rams was the Hunt family, Eulo, Niangala, with four rams to $1800 with an average of $1450.

Elders Gunnedah bought 10 White Suffolk rams at a $1000 average.

Mark and Casey Hodgson, Black Springs Partnership, Barraba, bought five Poll Dorset rams to $1600, twice, averaging $1320, while Glenwarrie Partnership, Glendon, Tamworth, bought three rams to $1300 averaging $1166.

The selling agents were Elders and the auctioneer was Paul Dooley.