Allendale and Days Whiteface stud's 51st annual ram sale was a day for both the vendors and buyers with a couple of new breed highs for the SA selling season and strong clearance but also plenty of great value flock rams available.
On Friday last week in the largest offering of prime lamb sires in the state, Lachy and Lou Day, Days Whiteface White Suffolk and maternal composite studs and Alastair and Jayne, Allendale Suffolk and Poll Dorset studs sold 355 of the 426 rams offered.
Of the nearly 100 registered bidders ringside or bidding online many had been buying for decades.
There were plenty of highlights in the stud rams including the $22,000 top price paid for lot 33, the first of the White Suffolks.
Elders stud stock auctioneer Ross Milne described the June drop as "one of the highest performance Days Whiteface ram that had been offered through the ring".
The ram, Days 220266, had a great balance of figures including eating quality traits including an PEMD of 2.9 with positive fat 0.1 and TCP index of 167.1
It sold to Kenton Farr and his son in law Matt Leigh, Harry's Well stud, Loxton with the underbidder a WA stud operating through AuctionsPlus.
Mr Farr who also bought the 2018 top price White Suffolk said the ram had "magnificent figures" and being by AI bred by Felix 191175 was an outcross for their stud.
"It is not always easy to get a good ram with good structure and really good figures but he has both and he was used in the stud so they rated him," Mr Leigh said.
Two other White Suffolks made $10,000 with lot 41, a son of Ella Matta 200890 selling to Tongara stud, Netherton and the Smart Group, Keith, securing lot 35.
Allendale stud's champion Suffolk ram from the recent Royal Adelaide Show kicked the sale off strongly selling for $13,000 to She-Oak Lodge stud, Mount Hope.
This was the highest priced Suffolk sold at auction in SA this year.
She-Oak Lodge stud's Tom Millard said the ram had great depth of breeding, sired by Allendale 210840- a ram which made $16,000 at last year's on-property sale.
"I had seen photos of him but he looked a lot better than the photos as often happens," he said. "He is a great size, structurally sound and will do good things for our stud."
The 16 stud rams averaged $4168. This included lot 14, which also heading to the EP bought by T Tree and L Crabb, Talia for $7500.
Stud interest was not quite as strong on the Poll Dorsets but the 16 lots still averaged $3712.
Regular top end buyers at Allendale, Martin and Kirsty Harvey, Paxton stud, Western Flat paid $7000 for lot 17 a May drop which was in the top 5 per cent on lean meat yield figures and top 20pc on Pwt.
"He has lovely balance and balanced figures and Alastair had a high opinion of him which I rate," Mr Harvey said.
"He is a nice sound sheep so he will be good for us."
The Koch family, Tallageira Pastoral Company, Frances, outlaid the same money for the following lot which was by home bred sire Allendale 200169.
Flock ram buyers were spread from the Mid North to the Vic Gippsland.
In the White Suffolks, 140 of 146 rams topped at $2400 and averaged $1321, in the Poll Dorsets 102 of 103 rams topped at $2000 five times and averaged $1259 and 42 of the Suffolk flock rams sold of 53 offered for a $1112 average.
Kinyerrie Partnership, Keith, were active on both Suffolks and White Suffolks.
They secured five Suffolks including one of the stud rams as well as 10 White Suffolks for a $1340 average.
Creston Holdings, Padthaway, bought seven White Suffolks to a $2000 high twice.
LS Johnson & Son, Naracoorte, bought throughout the Poll Dorset catalogue with 12 flock rams to a $1600 high and one of the stud rams- lot at $2200.
Nicholls Farming, Condah, Vic, enjoyed tremendous value for money with 11 Poll Dorsets between $800 and $1200.
The biggest bidder on the Suffolks was Brecon Props, Keith, who took home nine rams to $1600 twice, averaging $1278.
Many buyers had vacated the stands by the time Days Whiteface's maternal composites went under the hammer. Just 24 of the 77 sold to a $1200 high three times and averaging $891.
The Baker Group, Furner, were the volume buyers with six rams, four of which were at the $800 base price.
Mr Milne said it was a "very good" sale with strong clearances on the three terminal breeds and very solid averages considering recent sheep and lamb prices.
"To have the geographical spread that we did right across SA and Vic is testament to their long time Suffolk, White Suffolk and Poll Dorset clients," he said.
"Gippsland is a long way from Bordertown to be buying flock rams but the buyers of the sheep are there for one reason, because they perform."
Lachy Day said he was thrilled with the highs stud and flock buyers were willing to go to on the White Suffolks and the maternal composites were just lacking the support of a couple of regulars.
"It is great to see the support of our old and new clients which is hopefully the result of the phenotype and data combination we are offering," he said.
Alastair Day was also pleased with the result.
"We had such a strong stud Suffolk sale last year we were never going to repeat it but it was a good average for the rams," he said.
"It was the most even line-up of flock rams we have had but we just ran out of a couple of buyers."
He said the Poll Dorset flock ram sale was very solid too and was grateful to their mainly repeat buyers, some willing to pay up to nearly $2000 for their top picks.
"People were definitely buying extra rams because they were good value but we also appreciate that because we were able to sell more rams," he said.
"Good lambs are making okay money and really ordinary lambs are cheap but maybe some lambs were too dear in the past, going forward I think we will see those with good genetics and the good lambs being rewarded."
Elders, Nutrien and Spence Dix & Co were joint selling agents with Gordon Wood and Jono Spence sharing the rostrum.
