SALE SUMMARY
White Suffolks
2017 2016
Offered 70 60
Sold 70 60
Top $1700 (x2) $1700
Av $970 $903
Border Leicesters
Offered 70 47
Sold 48 30
Top $1500 (x2) $1100
Av $800 $676
CASTLE Camps cleared nearly 30 more rams than 2016 at the stud’s fourth annual sale on Friday at Keith, but also lifted the average of both breeds.
Castle Camps stud principals Ian and Sue Carr enjoyed a total clearance of their 70 White Suffolks for a $970 average, while 48 of their 70 Border Leicesters sold for a $800 average.
The larger White Suffolk offering was part of a natural progression as the Carrs grow their client base, but the Border Leicester offering was boosted by Castle Camps’ purchase of ewes with lambs from the Huxtable family’s Duenclin stud, Karoonda, late last year.
KD Day & Co, Padthaway, flexed their buying muscles in the top third of the White Suffolk catalogue with seven rams averaging $1514.
Among their tally was the first of the $1700 top price White Suffolks at lot 2.
It was the second-highest Carcase Plus indexing ram in the sale at 195.89, including an eye muscle depth of 1.832.
It was a son of high performance ram Woolumbool 127789, which Castle Camps has more than 200 progeny from.
The other $1700 White Suffolk was lot 10 – a July 2016-drop – knocked down to FR&HM Graetz, Willalooka.
Neighbours Walladge Partners, Keith, bought eight rams averaging $1025, while Platinum Livestock’s Adam Bradley was the sale’s volume buyer with 11 rams for R&L Lambert, all at $700 each.
Int he Border Leicester offering, the Days bought both the $1500 top price rams – both by Castle Camps sires.
Miller Whan & John’s Scott Miller secured 10 Border Leicesters for client Woolwash Trading, Mount Gambier, at the $600 base price.
MWJ’s Mike Newton bought nine rams between $600 and $800 for Trott & Warner, Kingston SE.
Two-thirds of the rams were $uperBorder$ with a Border Leicester index of more than 114, but in the end another couple of buyers were needed.
Mr Carr was pleased how well the rams had presented after a wet winter.
“It is really good to sell locally to blokes that are friends of mine but I also see a few new ones,” he said.
Guest auctioneer Laryn Gogel said it was a successful sale but the rams represented affordable buying.
“The rams are improving heads and shoulders every year with length and muscle, but if you look at what you get here compared to other sales, you get a lot,” he said.