RESPECTED Poll Merino stud Hamilton Run, Jamestown, is offering buyers a rare opportunity to secure top quality ewes from the heart of its flock, holding a nucleus flock reduction sale on AuctionsPlus on Thursday, May 14.
The 300 mixed age stud ewes were shorn in mid-March and are all scanned-in-lamb. They will be offered in sire mating groups of seven to 25 head.
Also being offered online will be 100 stud ewe lambs weighing between 52 kilograms and 56kg, while 430 Hamilton Run-blood commercial ewe lambs are catalogued for the AuctionsPlus national sheep sale on Tuesday next week.
Stud co-principal Greg Andrews said he was reluctant to part with the stud ewes but had relinquished a lease property in the Flinders Ranges last year.
Across the past six years the flock has achieved consistently high lambing percentages of 140 per cent, adding to the surplus numbers.
"If I could keep them I would, we have run our whole nucleus for 12 months here at Jamestown but the pressure is on the country so we needed to sell some," Mr Andrews said.
He said the MN3 status ewes on offer had bred many top quality rams for their annual on-property auctions, which had averaged more than $2000 in the past few years.
"They are high performance ewes with the surplus ram lambs at seven months of age recently grossing $300, which gives a sense of what they can produce," he said.
Mr Andrews said the ewes epitomised the traits Hamilton Run was striving for; doing ability, early growth and exceptional fleece weights.
"The lambs have shown superb early growth, you have to wonder what they can do if they are not being shifted around all the time," he said.
Elders southern livestock sales manager Laryn Gogel said it was a great opportunity for buyers - especially those looking to rebuild their flocks - to secure some highly productive ewes.
He said the strong genetic influence of Well Gully stud in Qld in the past 15 years had seen Hamilton Run's sheep well-suited to a wide range of environments.
"Hamilton Run has really been focusing on the wax to suint ratio which has brought them white wools that suit everywhere from the deep south to the northern pastoral areas," Mr Gogel said.
Mr Gogel said it was a unique opportunity for buyers to introduce diverse genetics into their flocks with the semen sires of the ewe lambs from East Mundulla, Poll Boonoke and Willandra studs, as well as resident standing sires.
The sale ewes will be available for inspection on Friday, May 8 by prior appointment ahead of next week's sale with videos, photos and assessments online, as well as recent wool test results for each ewe.
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