With the $26,000 Yarrawonga Poll ram at left, is classer Damian Meaburn, buyer Scott Thrift and stud principal Steve Phillips. With the $16,000 ram is Ashley Meaburn, classer Damien Whiteley and buyers Nick and Maria Weeding.

MERINO rams sold to a top of $26,000 and Corriedales to $5500 at the annual Sheepvention ram sale this week.

Joint selling agents Elders and Nutrien Wool sold 67 Merino rams for an average of $4436.57 and five Corriedale rams for an average of $3500 on Tuesday.

The top price Merino ram was lot 72 in the catalogue, a 13 month-old 17.7 micron Yarrawonga Poll ram bought by Elders NSW stud stock and sheep specialist Scott Thrift for Western Australian client Warralea Poll Merino Stud principal Jarrod King at Gairdner in southern WA.

Yarrawonga Poll sheep classer and adviser Damian Meaburn said the top-priced ram is a potential stud sire, based on the performance of his sire and a full brother.

“His sire, now deceased, has left a lot of good progeny.

“He’s only a young sheep at 13 months-old and he just seems to building into a really influential stud sire,” he said.

“I think will do really well for the new purchasers in Western Australia.”

Yarrawonga Poll principal Steve Phillips at Harden in New South Wales said it the stud’s first ram sale to Warralea, though other rams had been sold into the state.

Mr Phillips said the ram had good Australian Sheep Breeding Values for wool cut, negative fibre diameter and yearling liveweight, “which makes him very predictable.”

“He has very waterproof wool, it will take a lot of water.”

Mr Phillips said he was surprised at the price and it worked out well to bring two pens of three rams rather than mount a display. The six rams averaged $9666. Yarrawonga Poll also sold Lot 74 for $16,000 to Nick and Maria Weeding of Oatlands, Tasmania.

“We haven’t been to Hamilton for 20 years, nor to a multi-vendor sale for 20 years, so it was a bit of new territory for us.

“Hamilton Sheepvention is such a big event it is good to have the ram sale as part of it – they work well together.”

Corriedales sell to $5500

Blackwood Corriedale Stud principal Peter Blackwood, left, with the buyer of his $5500 ram Gordon Last.

Byaduk prime lamb producer Gordon Last paid $5500 for Lot 84, a 24.7 micron Blackwood Corriedale ram, looking for wool quality, and good ASBVs for growth, positive fat, carcase and fertility. Mr Last said he uses 45-50 Corriedale rams annually in his crossbreeding program to produce a maternal dam out of Merino-White Suffolk cross ewes. White Suffolk rams were then used over the progeny to produce prime lambs for direct sale.

Mr Last said the performance Corriedale cross ewes were showing doing ability in his sheep containment-based system, requiring less feed to stay fat and with better lamb survival.

“I will not buy a ram that is not positive fat.

“These (Corriedale) rams give us 15pc more lambs than our terminals do.”

Blackwood stud principal Peter Blackwood said he is breeding a modern performance-based Corriedale with mid-micron wool, good conformation, carcase and reproduction traits.