IT was a case of dejavu at Moorundie Poll Merino stud's annual ram sale at Keith on Tuesday with the $58,000 sale high equaling last year's lofty height.
And for the second consecutive year it was Wes, Jacqui, John and Marg Daniell, White River stud, Minnipa and Poochera, who staved off strong competition to buy the sale topper offered by Moorundie stud principals Geoff and Bernadette Davidson.
They were bidding on AuctionsPlus but had been impressed by the lot 4 ram when they inspected it at the Australian Sheep & Wool Show in Bendigo in July.
Wes described the 20.2 micron, M201 002, as the "ultimate modern Merino" with an outstanding package of wool quality, carcase and structure.
He said he was not surprised they had to pay the highest SA on-property price seen this season for the 15 month old.
"He has got such a large plain body wrapped in a genuine medium wool, long stapled free growing white wool with a great crimp, he said.
"He has got a cracking head and muzzle and is double polled.
"A eye muscle depth of 51mm is great for the breed and what we are aiming for in our modern Merino rams."
The ram's other wool measurements included a standard deviation of 3.3, coefficient of variation of 16.5 and comfort factor of 99.5pc.
Wes said they had been using Moorundie genetics with a lot of success with the sires they have bought recently breeding predictably.
The sale topper was a son of Moorundie 201 - a ram sold in 2015 at the Adelaide Merino ram sale to Kamora-Netley Park (Sandalwood) stud - and also had a strong maternal pedigree with the ram's grand dam one of Moorundie's top ET donors.
White River also bought lot 3- a NE73 008 "Lightning" son sight unseen for $17,000.
Pushing White River to the final bid on the sale topper was the Klowss family, Arapiles Plains, Natimuk, Vic who have also been strong supporters of Moorundie's breeding program for about a decade.
They were successful on lot 5, L167, for the sale's second highest price of $18,000.
The 21.1M ram was a son of home bred sire NE73 008 (Lightning) which sold for $70,000 at the 2020 Adelaide Merino ram sale.
"He is so well balanced, great width through the backline and beautiful white crimpy wool and so well covered," Arapiles Plains' Brian Klowss said.
Also destined for stud duties were lot 6 and lot 22 which sold to Craig and Lynda Farrow, Babirra stud,Stansbury, at $8000 and $6000 respectively.
In a total clearance Moorundie's 160 March shorn rams averaged an outstanding $3789.
The average was back nearly $500 on last year but much of that was from the top few rams making slightly less than 2021.
There were more buying opportunities between $1500 and $2000 than last year for the nearly 50 registered bidders but they were also keen to bid up for their picks.
Tiller & Thompson, Balaklava, who sold their young ewes to a $404 high in 2021, secured eight rams for a $4094 average, paying to $6000.
MB&TJ Parker, Langkoop, Vic, also bid strongly with eight rams to $4000, averaging $2781.
Glenstrae Rural, Willalooka, was the sale's biggest buyer with 20 rams at $1500 each, while McDonald, Ouyen, Vic, secured 10 rams at the same money.
Mr Davidson said he was really happy with the continued support from their clients and attracting a few new buyers.
"You always get nervous through the sale but it was great to see the support people showed in our sheep," he said.
"A fair few went into areas across the border and into Kingston SE and Naracoorte. We have concentrated on breeding white wools as well as the muscle and fat and the rams are performing in those higher rainfall areas."
Mr Davidson was rapt in the progress they had made concentrating on carcase shape but said in Merino breeding it was always important to continue to "push the boundaries".
Elders SA stud stock manager and auctioneer Tony Wetherall said it was a "great result".
"There were always going to be some high prices, particularly with the way Moorundie has bred and the number of studs around Australia influenced by Moorundie genetics," he said.
He had high praise for the evenness of the line-up.
"There were terrific eye muscles through the team, when you have got Merinos that are 48mm up to 51mm eye muscle that is exceptional," he said.
"It just shows the depth of quality and concentration on meat and fibre at Moorundie."
Elders and Spence Dix & Co were joint selling agents with Laryn Gogel, Luke Schreiber and Jono Spence rotating on the rostrum.
