MERINO rams are back at the height of fashion with both higher clearance rates and some lift in sale averages expected during the 2011 South Australian ram selling season.
Over the next two months more than 70 Merino studs will hold on-property sales across the state, followed by an extensive run of sales for the maternal and terminal breed sires.
Last year the state's flock received a much needed boost through significant ewe imports from Western Australia. The pastoral country is again flourishing with many stations mating ewes twice a year to rebuild numbers.
Those who have endured years of financial pain are finally reaping the rewards with young Merino ewes worth $200-plus and cutting 7-8 kilograms a head of wool worth 1000 cents/kg.
The early signs have been positive with Bendigo's Australian Sheep & Wool Show Merino sale producing the best result in a decade with 89 rams averaging $3565 - up $591 on last year's average. Both the Eyre Peninsula and South East Merino field days have recorded their largest attendance for a number of years.
Elders stud stock manager Tom Penna expected the most buoyant selling season in his 35 years in the industry, following a similar trend to the exceptional 2010 season.
He said while those Merino sales which averaged between $1500 and $2000 in 2010 would probably mirror last year's average, any with lower averages may increase into that price bracket.
During the golden years of the late 1980s, Mr Penna said there were some higher individual prices for rams but the averages were nowhere near as high as those seen last year.
"If you look at the adage of a bale of wool being the replacement cost of a ram then if we think around $1800, that is the figure that many a good average flock ram should and probably will make," he said.
He expected demand for Merino rams to be particularly strong in the northern areas where there is a swing back to breeding ewes, and in the SE it would be "par for course." He said there was more cash around.
"It has been a good grain and livestock year too and while they have retired some debt they will still have larger taxable incomes. One of the best ways to get rid of tax is to replenish your sire battery and get rid of a few extra older rams," Mr Penna said.
He also suggested the standout rams at the Adelaide Merino ram sale, where 109 rams have been catalogued, may make in the order of $40,000 to $50,000.
The Prime SAMM and Dohne dual-purpose breeds had also developed a good following with the popularity, particularly of the Dohne breed, riding high.
Landmark stud stock manager Malcolm Scroop said two years of buoyant sheep prices coupled with a greater resilience in the wool market, and the second good season in a row had added up to give farmers tremendous confidence in sheep.
*Full report in Stock Journal, July 28 issue, 2011.
