Southrose ‘a big improver’

The stud capped off its showring success at last month's Australian Sheep & Wool Show at Bendigo where it exhibited the All Purpose champion ram and three of its entries were among the finalists.

In the breakdown, Southrose sold 68 of 72 March/May 2013-drops to a $2900 high twice, and averaged $1328.

The sale date was brought forward a month because stud principals Jono and Zel Ashby were expecting their third child in September.

But 19 registered bidders turned out in force to secure well-grown rams with great carcase attributes and fine-medium wools.

For the past four years, Southrose has been a member of MerinoSelect and many of the catalogued rams were trait leaders for ASBVs, especially in the areas of wool cut and growth.

Bidding was free-flowing from the start, with the first 10 rams averaging an impressive $2100. Both $2900 equal top-price rams were in this first row.

Michael Crouch, Karwin Nominees, Field, was a strong bidder yet again, securing a 20.7-micron AI-bred son of Leahcim 858 for the equal top money.

It was one of their six buys - all in the top end of the catalogue.

Angela and Andrew Lyons, Wilkah Herefords, Vasey, Vic, won their first pick with one of the finest rams in the catalogue at 16.4M.

The Merino Production Index of 169 and Dual Purpose index of 167 put him in the top few of the 2013-drops on MERINOSELECT.

Mr Ashby was pleased with the sale result and strong support from long-time and new buyers. The type they were looking to breed was meeting market demands.

"Despite the increase in sale average, we believe the rams are still at an affordable level, but we will probably look to put in a few more numbers next year to keep the price in that range," he said.

* Full report in Stock Journal, August 14, 2014 issue.