Towalba Merinos strongly supported by return buyers

Buyers sought rams with well nourished wool.

Towalba sold 54 of the 60 rams offered to average $1803. The top-priced ram was knocked down for $4800 to Ian Shaw, Whitefields, Galong.

Sired by a ram from the Towalba Red family, the sale topper was a horned August/September 2022 drop.

The ram had a 20.3-micron fleece diameter and a comfort factor of 99.5 per cent.

Mr Shaw also purchased the top priced polled ram for $3200.

Also sired by a ram from the Towalba Red family, the August/September 2022 drop ram had a 18.5-micron fleece diameter and coefficient of variation of 21.2pc.

In total, Mr Shaw purchased five rams to average $3320.

Volume buyers were also out in force with bidders putting together a great draft of rams.

Belltre Pty Ltd, Bellmain, Yeoval, purchased seven rams to a top of $2600 to average $1800.

Rob and Gina Allen, Eumarra, Brewarrina, also purchased seven rams to a top of $1800 to average $1485.

The Allen family has purchased rams from Towalba since the 1980s.

"Towalba have the style of sheep that we look for...big and bold heavy cutting sheep that are productive and fill bales of wool," Mr Allen said.

"Today we looked for plenty of scale as well as a good heavy cutting wool with a micron that will keep the dust out.

"We run a self replacing Merino flock with about 8000 sheep, more than 3000 of those being breeders.

"Most of the rams will go into normal production for joining but we might take out the top rams to run a bit of a selective flock.

"They'll be joined in late February or early March for an August/September drop."

Towalba stud principal Warwick Copp said the sale exceeded his expectations.

"I was very nervous with the way the industry is at the moment as it is hard to sell any sort of livestock but confidence from buyers proved that they wanted genetics and quality wool," he said.

"Buyers purchased rams at acceptable prices and are going home very happy.

"The quality of our offering was amazing with the evenness from lot one to 60 the best I've supplied."

Andrew George, Tarrion, Brewarrina, purchased six rams to a top of $2000 to average $1533.

Ashley and Tina Curran, Morello, Hermidale, purchased five rams to a top of $2200 to average $1840.

WB Rosser and SM Connolly, Strathalbyn, Peak Hill, purchased five rams to a top of $2400 to average $1760.

The sale was conducted by AWN Langlands Hanlon, Parkes, and Elders stud stock. Geoff Rice, AWN Langlands Hanlon, was the auctioneer.