A wet, wild and woolly start to the Western Australian Merino ram selling season recently saw practically every dam from Brookton to Broomehill either full or overflowing as the field days and sales kicked off.
Day one, on Tuesday August 16th, saw the Williams ram shed house some 9 studs, the Narrogin ram shed with 6 studs, followed by on-farm displays from Eastville Park/Quailerup and Nepowie. There had been almost 25-50mms of lovely rain right throughout the area over the 24 hour period, making creeks run and dams overflow - the ducks loved it!
Day two, Wednesday 17th, saw the Broomehill/Gnowangerup & Nyabing region hosting Barloo/Willemenup, East Strathglen, Mianelup, Wiringa Park & Woodyarrup studs’ on-farm displays of Merino and Poll Merino sires. Most were able to keep rams under cover but a few wet ones were unavoidable. The rain continued and some creeks were almost impassable later in the day….apparently!!
The famed “Rabobank” WA Sheep Expo & Ram Sale took the stage on both Thursday 18 & Friday 19 August, with some 39 studs being represented, and over 500 Merinos on display, in WA’s largest Merino event of the calendar year.
Great Southern Merino Sheep Breeders’ Association president, Gavin Norrish (Angenup stud, Kojonup), said that they had been looking forward to meeting up with fellow stud breeders and extending a warm welcome to their eastern states and overseas visitors, who had been missing over the last two seasons. Gavin also hoped that, with no COVID restrictions on venues or people, it would be a more enjoyable show. He was indeed correct, with all contacts spoken to agreeing it was a great return for WA.
One highlight was the WA Sheep Expo “Working Dog Auction”. The trials and demonstrations were fun for all to see, and a credit to the trainers and vendors for such tireless work and patience. Top Dog in the “Auctions Plus” sale was one “Shimmy Downs Tanner”, who realised a record amount of $15,900. Following in second place was “Barrkel Peters Fire”, who made a respectable $11,700 and, from the same kennel, “Barrkel Peters Olly” was just a whisker behind at $11,600. All of these dogs were amazing and will be worth every cent in the paddocks and yards.
The offering of 17 rams in the Ram Sale (also broadcast on Auctions Plus) saw some spirited bidding on the big guys. Top price was $31,000 for lot 13, out of “Claypans” stud of Corrigin. Equal second was $20,000, for both a sire out of the Angenup stable in Kojonup, and also for a ram out of “Seymour Park” stud in Narrogin. A worthy 3 was from our very own Milne Feeds Bruce Rock Depot Managers, Robyn and Phil Jones, who presented the much awarded “Daniel”, who sold for a very respectable $15,000. Daniel smashed all records in the east recently and is a credit to the passion and dedication our depots managers show in all things sheep! We are also sure Daniel has had his fair tasting of both EasyOne & LambGro pellets along the way.
The Merino industry in Australia has survived for over 225 years and, with its general performance over the last 12months, there is a lot of optimism for the future. This is despite the recent drop in pricing, mainly due to processing issues and the FMD scare. However, in general, it has been a good year for producers, as some record prices for both mutton and lamb were realised. Several producers said that there were not too many years when both lamb and mutton had fetched just shy of $200/head. It is ironic that almost exactly 30 years ago we were shooting millions of sheep across the country in the dreadful “Flock Reduction Scheme”.
So, well done to all involved for the start of the Merino ram season. We hope to see you all out and about at field days and ram sales over the next couple of months and, as always, are more than happy to discuss any sheep (and ram) feeding requirements. For any information you may be chasing, contact either Wayne Manoni 0427 099 002, Brett Blanchett 0429 884 528 or call the office direct on 9351 0700.
