SALE SUMMARY
2016 2015
Offered 80 79
Sold 80 79
Top $5000 $8000
Av $2040 $1814
A GREAT spread of buying support from across SA helped underpin the solid results at the Woolford family's Karawatha Park Poll Merino and Merino sale at Buckleboo on Friday.
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It was the stud’s 14th annual on-property auction and there was a full clearance of 80 rams.
A healthy average of $2040 was achieved, which was $226 up on last year’s $1814.
The top price ram went for $5000 and was bought by father and son Jack and Tim Larwood, TJ&DL Larwood & Co, Buckleboo.
The Larwoods have been buying rams from Karawatha Park for the past 13 years.
The family-run sheep enterprise focused on Merinos, with about 850 breeding ewes, which Tim said they were looking to up next year.
Tim said there were plenty of attributes he liked about the top price ram.
“It’s just an all-rounder,” he said.
“It’s got the body and the length of wool we’re looking for, and it’s all backed up by the figures, which is always a good sign.”
Tim said the quality of the wool was a major reason he kept returning to Karawatha Park each year.
“You can see the work the Woolfords put into their sheep,” he said.
“The stud has really come along in leaps and bounds, particularly in the last six years.”
Tim said the frame and the Australian Sheep Breeding Values were two aspects he focused on when choosing a sire.
“The ram had everything, particularly with its figures,” he said.
“It was 152 on the dual-purpose index, which was the highest in the sale.”
The ram was a son of Wallaloo Park 2401. It weighed 119.5 kilograms, its yearling bodyweight was 5.7kg above the average and its clean fleece weight was 18.2 per cent above the average.
Its fleece was 17.5 micron, with 3.3 standard deviation, 18.6 coefficient of variation and 100 per cent comfort factor.
Regular buyers father and son Wayne and Sam Young, River Park Farms, Butlers Bridge, have been buying from the stud since it started on-property sales 14 years ago. This year they bought six rams to $3200, averaging $2700.
Classing Ltd’s Bill Walker bought on behalf of clients including the McLachlan family, Rosebank, Mount Pleasant, one ram at $4400 and Butch and Jodie Dunn, Penong, two to $1600, averaging $1300.
New client Matt Brown, Lameroo, bought four rams to $4000, averaging $2350.
Another new buyer, Paul Humphris, Humphris Family Trust, Gladstone, bought 10 rams to $1700.
Long-time supporters of Karawatha Park, John and Paul Schaefer, Nalino Props, Buckleboo, bought four rams to $3200, averaging $2450.
Other local Buckleboo buyers included Zibell Pty Ltd, three rams to $2600, averaging $2166, and Rayson Ag Trust, three to $1600, averaging $1532.
Wilkatana Station, via Port Augusta, bought six rams to $2600, averaging $1816, and Shannan Larwood, PN&CA Larwood & Co, Kimba, bought three to a top of $4200, averaging $3600.
Karawatha Park’s Dion Woolford said the stud had a focus on providing accurate data to their clients through ASBVs.
“The more information we can give our clients, the more informed decisions they can make,” he said.
“We aim to provide value to our customers and we believe this is a way to provide that value.”
With full clearance at the sale in the past few years, next year Karawatha Park will offer more rams.
“It’s something we’ve been working towards in the last couple of years,” Dion said.
“We’re really excited about the direction the stud is going in.”
The sale was conducted by Landmark with state stud stock manager Gordon Wood auctioneering.
Mr Wood said it was a fantastic result for the stud.
“It’s always good to get a full clearance, which Karawatha Park keeps doing year-on-year,” he said.
“The great results were helped along by a few new buyers from the Mid North and Mallee regions.
“Karawatha Park is always focused on improving its genetics. People realise what the stud has to offer and are coming from some distance to buy rams.”
