Tullinga Dorper studs' Hamish Wald thought there was two key ingredients which contributed to the success of the Wald family's on-property sale at Condobolin.
"The sheep looked really good but it was all about the people that turned up, we had fantastic support," he said.
Tullinga increased its offering by almost 40 rams from its inaugural sale last year, but the result was the same - a full clearance.
The stud sold 100 Dorper and White Dorper rams on Wednesday, September 13, to a top price of $4000 and an average of $2455.
Also just like last year, the top price came in the final lot of the sale.
Tullinga 223818 was bought by Jon Fair, Lake Cargelligo, for the top price and was one of three rams Mr Fair purchased.
He also bought Tullinga 223447 for $3200 and Tullinga 223514 for $3600 to an average of $3600.
The top-priced ram weighed 84 kilograms, had an eye muscle depth of 37 millimetres and rib fat of 5mm.
Mr Fair will use the purchases to breed rams for his commercial flock.
Coming into the sale, he wasn't looking to buy 223818 but changed his mind.
"I definitely wanted two [rams] but this one caught my eye," Mr Fair said of the top-priced ram.
"Clean shedder, good breeding and he was a younger ram so he's a bit of a wildcard."
Mr Wald said the rams had been catalogued by weight which meant older rams were predominantly toward the front of the catalogue and younger ones at the back.
As for 223818 securing the top price, Mr Wald said it was "definitely a surprise", but it also indicated there was quality throughout the sale.
"He was a good ram but a young ram - it showed the demand was strong right through the catalogue," he said.
The volume buyers included Mirage Land and Water, Cunnamulla, Qld, which bought 12 rams to a top of $3600 to average $2350; A R Cameron, West Wyalong, who purchased 10 rams to a top of $2800 to average $2530, and HW Colless Partnership, Condobolin, who bought seven rams to a top of $3500 to average $2871.
The sale was well attended, Mr Wald said, with anywhere between 80 and 100 people at the Condobolin property.
Mr Wald was thankful for all the support.
"That's Condobolin people - they support things really well - and the whole Central West - people support things really well," he said.
"It was so nice to see them all because a lot of them are friends as well. It was wonderful."
The sale was conducted by Forbes Livestock and Agency Co and online via AuctionsPlus, with Randal Grayson, Forbes Livestock and Agency Co, as auctioneer.
Ben Jaffrey
Ben is a content curator and journalist for The Land. He has been with ACM since 2015 and first worked at The Area News and then at the Northern Daily Leader. Ben first joined ACM Agri as a digital journalist for all seven agricultural mastheads in 2022 before shifting to The Land full-time in 2023.
Ben is a content curator and journalist for The Land. He has been with ACM since 2015 and first worked at The Area News and then at the Northern Daily Leader. Ben first joined ACM Agri as a digital journalist for all seven agricultural mastheads in 2022 before shifting to The Land full-time in 2023.
