SALE SUMMARY
Allendale stud
Poll Dorset stud rams: 14 offered and sold to $8000, av $4750
Poll Dorset flock rams: 85 sold to $2400, av $1412
Poll Dorset stud ewes: 12 offered, 10 sold to $800, av$675
Suffolk stud rams: 17 offered and sold to $21,500 av$3971
Suffolk flock rams: 46 offered, 39 sold to $1800 av $1044
Suffolk stud ewes: 36 offered, 10 sold to $1700, av$960
Days Whiteface stud
White Suffolk stud rams: 16 offered and sold to $10,500 av $4250
White Suffolk flock rams: 132 offered and sold to $2700, av $1680
Maternal composite rams: 57 offered, 50 sold to $3200, av $1740
ALLENDALE and Days Whiteface studs, Bordertown, reaffirmed themselves as two of the nation's leading terminal sire studs with spirited competition on more than 400 rams and ewes from four breeds to go under the hammer.
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The highlight of the combined sale was a new national Suffolk record of $21,500 for Allendale 180136, which was the reserve champion Suffolk ram at the recent Royal Melbourne Show.
The successful buyer of the outstanding lot 32 ram offered by Alastair and Jayne Day, was Brett Gum, Lowan Hill stud, Pinnaroo, who was impressed with the body type of the July 2018 drop.
"He is just a classic Suffolk- he is the way they are meant to look," he said.
"I was thinking $15,000 but it is what it is- if you want good sheep you have got to buy the best rams."
The sale topper will be used extensively over Lowan Hill's 150 stud ewes.
Allendale stud's previous best price was $16,000 paid at its annual on-property sale about three years ago.
This year's top price ram was bred in purple, sired by the Melbourne Show interbreed champion of 2017 and out of a nine year old ewe purchased a few years ago when Allendale bought the Brechinridge stud.
Alastair said it was their "stand out ram of the year"
"I wanted a top ram to put in the sale, rather than always keeping the best of them," he said.
Rams sold to four states of Australia but it was local SA studs who won many of the high price bidding duels.
Cameron McCallum, Willochra stud, Melrose, picked up the $10,500 top price White Suffolk, offered by Lachy and Lou Day, Days Whiteface stud at lot 17.
The June 2018 drop, which was used as a ram lamb, was sired by Felix 150721 and had a huge Lambplan carcase plus index of 217.6.
It was one of the members of the champion interbreed lamb production export class from the 2019 Royal Adelaide Show.
The other ram in the winning pair sold for $5000 to Gumview stud, also at Melrose.
The top priced Poll Dorset ram also remained in SA selling for $8000 to Leigh Clifford, Gowanbrae stud, Furner.
"He is a good solid square ram with plenty of meat and a nice topline," Mr Clifford said.
Also in the Poll Dorsets, Martin and Kirsty Harvey, Paxton stud, Western Flat, outlaid $7500 for lot 6, Allendale 180277.
"We know what we are getting when we come to Allendale, their sheep always breed true to type," Mr Harvey said.
In a reflection of the high lamb prices, flock buyers from Vic Gippsland to western Vic and across SA lifted their sights.
The highest price in the flock rams was $3200 for a maternal composite ram offered by Days Whiteface stud. It was knocked down to the Baker Group, Furner, who bought 20 rams.
Elders, Landmark and Spence Dix & Co were joint selling agents with Ross Milne, Gordon Wood and Jono Spence adding up the bids.
Mr Milne said there was spirited competition through all classifications but particularly the White Suffolks and Poll Dorsets.
"Obviously the highlight was the $21,500 Suffolk ram but most satisfying was the appreciation for the flock rams from the commercial guys which helps drive this sale when we are trying to sell volumes," Mr Milne said.
'With the lamb industry being where it is at with at all time highs you'd expect a little bit of that confidence to run into these ram sales and it was evident today.
