Markets

Maternal composite ewes sell to $192 as rainfall approaches

Terry Sim, May 1, 2019

LMB Livestock auctioneer Bernie Grant, left, and Hugh Douglas sell the Four Winds 1.5 year-old composite ewes for $188 yesterday.

SCANNED in-lamb maternal composite ewes sold to $192 at the Four Winds flock dispersal in southern Victoria yesterday.

Most lines sold to local buyers or the new owners of Stuart and Heather McKenry’s 375 hectare property at Penshurst in Victoria’s south-west as weather systems forecast to yield significant rain approached south-eastern Australia.

LMB Livestock auctioneer Bernie Grant sold the 349 1.5 year-old ewes scanned in-lamb to Chrome Icon Southie rams for $188 to TDC agent Guy Robertson for a Hamilton district client.

Mr Robertson also bought the 313 2.5 year-old ewes scanned in-lamb to Chrome and Cashmore maternal composite rams for $192. He said the average of about $190 across the two lines represented very good buying considering their pregnancy status and their condition.

The 3.5 year-old composite ewes at the Four Winds dispersal go under the hammer for $179 and $173 yesterday.

The 375 3.5 year-old composite ewes also joined to maternal rams sold in two runs for $179 and $173. The property’s new owners bought the 201 4.5 year-old ewes joined to White Suffolk rams for $174.

The 142 4.5 year-old first cross ewes scanned in-lamb to White Suffolk rams sold for $166 to a Southern Grampians Livestock client and 165 5.5 year-old composite ewes also in-lamb to White Suffolks made $151.

Price levels at the sale were affected by the difficult season and low rainfall, the flock’s later joining and its lack of Ovine Johne’s Disease vaccination. All lines were January shorn and vaccinated for camphylobacter.

The main line of 333 spring drop composite ewe lambs had been pellet-fed up to the sale and recorded an average liveweight of 44kg, but were passed in at $144 during the sale to sell afterward for $150 to the Page family.

Stuart and Heather McKenry with their dog Biscuit.

However, vendor Stuart McKenry said the overall result was very good with the prices within a few dollars of his expectations.

“If it had rained they would have made more, but they made enough.

“They were joined (on 10 February) for a late lambing and composite ewes are not always the flavour of the month.”

The McKenrys’ agent Jack Behncke said the sale was ‘handy enough”, with a lot of local interest in the composite sheep.

“These composite ewes are hard to find – the younger and the older sheep sold pretty well.

“I would love to have sold these sheep next week after we had a bit of rain, but they still sold to what I and the vendor expected, so we are pretty happy.”

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