Glenville Poll Merino Stud was delighted with the results of its 64th on-property ram sale, especially given the tough time farmers have had hanging on to sheep in drought conditions.
While there is plenty of paddock feed around now, stud principal Daryl Smith said the number of ewes left in South Australia had dropped dramatically in the past 18 months, while there was a severe feed shortage.
He said sheep meat prices were now high but it would take years for ewe numbers to recover.
“It was beyond our expectations and we thank our valued clients for their continued support,” Daryl said.
He said a top price of $11,000 to White Hill Merinos at Robertstown and a second highest of $9000 to Marramville, of Ceduna, reflected the exceptionally high quality of those two rams.
“A cracking result after a few dry seasons but with sheep on the rise the momentum is building for a very promising run rolling into next year and beyond,” Daryl said.
“The overall clearance was down but there were still 99 of 110 rams offered sold – to an average of $2079.”
A further 13 rams were sold from the 26 offered in the mini auction which followed.
“We had already reduced the offering and we have probably got about 80 rams available for private selection,” he said.
“I will say 70 per cent of the guys we have dealt with have over halved their (sheep) numbers – that’s quite a few.
“We had a few new buyers which helped and we had some return buyers that hadn’t bought for a couple of years, which was great.”
The largest volume buyer was Smith Partners, Belton, who bought 20 rams – 10 in the main auction and 10 in the mini auction.
Other volume buyers included Sampsons, of Warramboo, who bought seven; Barmont, Streaky Bay with seven; and Hornsdale, of Jamestown with six.
Purchasing five rams each were Holowilena Station, Morrows of Darke Peak, and Cambourn Trust, of Arno Bay.
