SALE SUMMARY
2018 2017
Offered 72 70
Sold 57 62
Top $5000 $6000
Av $2084 $2274
EYRE Peninsula buyers went head to head with South East locals at Kiandra Poll Merino stud’s 23rd annual on-property auction at Senior, near Bordertown, on Tuesday last week.
In the breakdown Ryan and Sarah Kluska sold 57 of 72 April and July-2017 drop rams for a $2084 average – down $190 on 2017’s result.
The top end of the bright white, well-covered rams sold well but the sale was missing a couple more volume orders to lift the 80 per cent clearance.
Another five rams sold during the mini auction.
Lock commercial woolgrowers Kerrin Glover, Goldmine Hill Farms and Craig Wheare, Wheare Holdings, teamed up to buy the Lot 1 sale topper for $5000.
They were impressed by the “nice, long stapled wool ” of the 19.8 micron April 2017 drop with a standard deviation of 2.8, 14.1 coefficient of variation and 99.8 per cent comfort factor.
The 108 kilogram son of Poll Boonoke 150338 with a Merino Select dual production plus index of 161 was one of six rams the Glovers and Wheares bought for a $3767 average.
Losing bidder on the top priced ram, AK&JE Terry, Lochaber, went to $4600 for a 19.6M ram by the same sire at Lot 25.
The Terrys bought three rams for a $3533 average.
Karwin Nominees, Field, won many of the bidding duels taking home 19 rams to $2800 and averaging $1837.
Elders South East district wool manager Steph Brooker-Jones secured nine rams to $3000, averaging $1789 for a Streaky Bay buyer.
Ten sale rams were sired by Kiandra 140757, a ram which has performed well in the Balmoral Merino Sire Evaluation Trial for muscle and fat score and is also the trial leader for breech wrinkle and dag score.
“Muscle and fat has become a fad in breeding but it is something we have always had in mind,” he said.
Mr Kluska hoped the rams “ticked a few boxes” for their clients with good structure and constitution, as well as carcase shape.
He was excited for the 2019 sale with the progeny from NSW Riverina bred rams– Poll Boonoke 161923 bought for $24,000 and Willandra 160003 bought for $6000– already showing plenty of promise.
“They are maintaining the type we have got with the wool density we are after,” he said.
Elders South East livestock manager and auctioneer Laryn Gogel praised the consistency of the offering from Lot 1 through to the mini auction.
He said they exhibited terrific length of staple and had “crisp, crimpy wool” with the carcase and wool figures to back it up.
“We would have loved a few extra registered bidders but we were very fortunate there was a couple of big orders and they were afforded great value in the back end of the catalogue,” Mr Gogel said.
Elders conducted the sale with Quality Livestock.