SALE SUMMARY
White Suffolks
2016
Offered 73
Sold 73
Top $4100
Av $1263
White Dorper-Poll Dorsets
Offered 11
Sold 11
Top $1450
Av $1240
White Suffolk-Dorpers
Offered 21
Sold 21
Top $1250 (3)
Av $1009
VIC stud Omad burst onto the on-property selling calendar with a total clearance of 105 prime lamb sires and $1210 average in its inaugural sale at Kaniva on Thursday last week.
Stud principal Damien Hawker has been breeding White Suffolks for 11 years.
But he recently doubled his flock numbers with the purchase of the Hayelle stud from Hayden and Michelle Whittlesea at Serviceton, Vic, last year, enabling him to hold an auction of White Suffolks and composites.
The sale was considered a great success, with 56 registered bidders from as far afield as Echuca, Vic, and Benalla, Vic, raising their hands high on the May to September 2015-drop White Suffolk, White Dorper-Poll Dorset and White Suffolk-Dorper rams.
“Being my first sale I didn’t know what to expect, but I am very thankful to the buyers,” Mr Hawker said.
“The sheep and lamb job has been pretty strong for a while and I have a passion for breeding sheep and comparing my genetics with other studs.”
Mr Hawker said his focus was on breeding early maturing sheep with lambing ease, muscling and positive fat to ensure sucker lambs could be turned off at a young age and sheep thrive in harder years.
The sale’s $4100 top price was knocked down to Dean Cameron, Noramac stud, Balmoral, Vic. The classy May 2015-drop White Suffolk ram was sired by a Sunnybanks ram and had been part of the stud’s show team.
The $1450 highest price White Dorper-Poll Dorset ram sold to local buyer D Hards.
Among the Vic volume buyers were Andrew May, Ballarat, who bought six rams to $1300, and LTH Enterprises, Nhill, which bought six to $1400.
Putting together five rams each were fellow Vic buyers Merrett Family Trust, Serviceton, to $950, Rogers Partnership, Edenhope, to $1200 and D Witmitz, Kaniva, to $1600. Mr Witmitz’s tally included two of the three $1250 top price White Suffolk-Dorper rams.
The other $1250 ram went to GJ Dufty, Benalla.
Omad also sold three rams at the Bendigo Elite White Suffolk & Suffolk Sale for $3000 each a fortnight earlier.
The sale was conducted by independent agent Driscoll McIlree & Dickinson, with Brock Quick as auctioneer.
Mr Quick said it was an “outstanding line-up” and strong competition all the way through the catalogue.
“They had very true traits to the breed with a lot of length and a lot of muscle and shape in the back end,” he said. “They were presented in very good order enabling the genetics to shine.”