SALE SUMMARY
2019 2018
Offered 160 160
Sold 156 160
Top $11,000 $15,000
Av $2546 $2881
A HUGE, heavy cutting Poll Merino ram with top stud wool sold for the $11,000 high at Moorundie stud's eighth annual sale on Wednesday at Keith.
Lot 3, a 20.9 micron ram, was knocked down to the Hull family, Minta stud, Mount Cooper, who also bought the $15,000 sale topper at Moorundie's 2018 on-property sale.
It was Minta's second big buy from Moorundie this season, also securing the sale topper at the Hamilton Sheepvention sale in Vic in August for $35,000.
Both these rams were sons of PB 388 which was sold by Moorundie two years ago to WA.
Many of the sale rams offered by Geoff and Bernadette Davidson had impressive eye muscle depths in excess of 40 millimetres including the top price lot which had a 43.5mm EMD and 10.5mm fat. Its wool tests including a 3.1 standard deviation and 99.6 per cent comfort factor.
Cousins Merino Services' and Minta stud consultant Paul Cousins said the 139 kilogram sale topping ram was a "thumper".
"He is a big, square bodied, big barrelled sheep with white wool and plenty of it, and a great structured ram," he said.
The previous lot - a 20.6M ram was the other ram to crack five figures, knocked down to CA&AM Murdoch, West Cowie, Warooka for $10,000.
Studs from three states were in the bidding action, including Bullamalita Merino stud, Goulburn, NSW, which bought lot 7 for $8750 and Borambil Merinos, Corowa, NSW, which outlaid $5750 for lot 23.
In one of the final Merino sales for the season Moorundie cleared 156 of 160 rams for a $2546 average- back $335 on 2018, but still one of the top performing SA sales.
The evenness of the offering enabled commercial buyers from a wide geographical area to select throughout the catalogue and put together big drafts.
Many were able to average less than their 2018 buys.
Tiller & Thompson, Hoyleton, reinvested in their sire battery after receiving up to $335 for their young Moorundie blood Merino ewes the previous day on AuctionsPlus.
They bought nine rams to $5000, averaging $3489.
Geier Farm, Burra, also put together nine rams to $2600, averaging $1906.
Matt and Tracy Parker, Langkoop, Vic, enjoyed some great buying with their eight rams averaging $1813.
Elders and Spence Dix & Co were the selling agents with Tony Wetherall, Laryn Gogel, Luke Schreiber and Jono Spence rotating on the rostrum.
Mr Wetherall, who officiated the opening lots, said it was a great sale with strong top end bidding and opportunities later in the sale.
"Moorundie is renowned for its influence over the Merino flock around Australia whether it be from a commercial or a stud point of view, that was evident today with quite a few studs bidding on that top end following their success at Adelaide," he said.
"But again we saw repeat buyers from Vic and SA who came to buy top end commercial rams that do in rainfall as well as in varying environments."
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