Return buyers ensure total clearance in massive Collinsville ram sale

The sale's biggest highlight came at lot 1 with a horned ram, Collinsville Buddy 220032, which had created plenty of pre-sale interest and made $70,000.

This equalled the highest price paid for a Merino ram in Australia this year and smashed the highest reported sale in SA this season of $60,000.

Stud general manager Tim Dalla said the 19.2 micron, embryo transfer bred ram which collected a swag of ribbons including junior champion medium wool ram at the Australian Sheep & Wool Show and reserve grand champion March shorn Merino ram was the best horned ram they had bred in the past five years.

"We thought he was worthy of the money but in the current climate it was a bit of an unknown what to expect," he said.

"Having said that rams like that don't come around every year."

The successful buyers were Reg and Lynne Parker, Fairview, Pingelly, WA who breed their own rams for their self-replacing flock of 3000 ewes.

"Tim told us about this ram so we came over and had a look at the field day, we have been trying to buy one of the top sheep from Collinsville for a while," he said.

Semen will also be available in the 136kg ram which had an eye muscle depth of .

Its impressive wool tests included a standard deviation of 2.6, coefficient of variation of 15.2 per cent and comfort factor of 99.7pc.

The underbidder was Allendale stud, Gollan, NSW, which had briefly seen the ram at the recent Royal Adelaide Show.

They were successful on lot 11- another Buddy 23 son, paying $11,000 for the 19M horned ram.

Lot 2, another ET bred ram which had enjoyed plenty of show success including Riverina Wool Hogget of the Year - the first of the Poll Merinos to be offered made $27,000.

It was also bred in the purple sired by Premier 102 which sold for $34,000 to the White River stud in 2013 and out of a top Masterbuilt ewe.

Buyer Angus Stockman, Glenowie stud, Burra, - who was the underbidder on last year's $34,000 highest priced Poll Merino-said he had been buying from Collinsville for more than a decade and was pleased with the impact it was having on his stud

"This ram has done well at the shows, I liked the micron at 22.5M, his good figures and structurally he is very sound," Mr Stockman said.

The lot 2 ram along with lot 3 and lot 4 were in Collinsville's winning pen of three rams at the Northern Merino Expo in Jamestown and at the Hay Sheep Show.

Lot 3 was snapped up by another local stud, Springvale North for $12,000, who also secured lot 6 for $10,000.

Eyre Peninsula stud, Collandra North, Tumby Bay outlaid $12,000 for lot 4, a Masterbuilt 9 son which was 18.7M.

WA stud Rockdale Valley, Muntadgin, secured three rams paying to a high for $9000 high for lot 10.

The six specially selected Merinos offered by George and Sophie Millington averaged $16,875 while 38 specially selected Poll Merinos averaged $5336.

In the main offering 206 Poll Merinos averaged $1956 and 50 Merinos averaged $1076.

In comparison in 2022 Collinsville sold 44 specially-selected rams for a $9911 average, while 256 flock rams averaged $1934.

The 79 registered bidders this year came from western NSW to the South East of SA.

Two of the biggest buyers- Kangaringa Station, Keith and Paroo Pastoral, White Cliffs, NSW often went head to head on their picks.

Kangaringa which have been buying for a few years were successful on 37 rams to $3400 and averaging $2024.

"They are big boned, big barrelled sheep and it has worked in our area, it has put extra wool on our ewes," farm general manager Jason Kirk said.

"A lot of studs come here to buy so it is also good reason to come here and buy flock rams, you may pay a little bit more but we are happy to keep investing in the genetics."

Paroo bought 46 rams to a $3600 high and $2120 average.

As the sale's biggest buyer they received a FarmBot water level monitor.

Paroo Pastoral manager Tyson Spinks says in the four years they have been using Collinsville genetics they have been able to quickly improve the quality of the flock at Cawnalmurtee Station near White Cliffs, NSW.

"With the rams we have bought we have gone from small frame Merino to a medium frame Merino and there is good wool on them, we are shearing six monthly or the fleeces would be too long," he said.

Other volume buyers included Wonnaminta Props via Broken Hill, NSW with 40 rams at $1000-$1200, often taking both rams in the pick of the pairs.

Mr Dalla said it was pleasing to see repeat stud interest from SA, WA and NSW and noted that many did not have to spend their whole budgets this year to get the rams they wanted.

He said it was tremendous to have a total clearance of the 300 rams and see the returned support of breeders who are happy with their product.

"We are striving for the dual purpose attributes of meat and wool but also maintaining wool cut," he said.

'We believe that some Merinos are not cutting enough wool, with costs increasing you have to have production but still have plain body."

Mr Dalla also commended Elders for their efforts in ensuring Australia's largest ram sale went smoothly with 600 rams on offer for the day, including the East Bungaree draft.

Elders Burra conducted the sale with Tony Wetherall, Tom Penna and Laryn Gogel the auctioneers.

Mr Wetherall said it was an "exciting line up of rams" and good attendance of SA and interstate stud buyers.

"We had a lot of stud interest on those specially selected rams- their (Collinsville) genetics have been performing and proven right around Australia and the world for years and years," he said.

He said there were big orders in the flock rams from right across SA and into western NSW and central Vic.

"The pick of pens works really well with buyers often taking both, to see that number of rams in the time that we did is a real credit to the personnel of Collinsville and East Bungaree," he said.