A record number of registered bidders was an apt reward for the team at Janmac stud after facing consecutive very tough seasons.
Co-principal Grant Hausler said there was “a lot of positivity in the shed” on Wednesday, when the stud hosted their annual sale at Goroke, Victoria.
“Our area is now having a good season, lamb and mutton are at record prices and wool at good levels, I’m not sure I have ever seen those three things combined,” Grant said.
There were 50 registered buyers at Janmac this year, and they bid strongly on the catalogue of 181 rams, ensuring a total clearance to a top price of $7000.
The 144 Poll Dorsets averaged $1806, while 36 White Suffolks sold to an average of $1269.
“Buyers now seem to be focussing on muscular carcasses and we are known for that style of sheep, so it is our style of fast-growing ram that people are chasing,”Grant added.
While the Janmac rams still offered exceptional value for money, the Poll Dorset average was an increase of more than $250 on the previous sale, with eight more rams sold.
Return stud ram clients Henry and Damian Cameron of Athlone Poll Dorset, Penshurst, Vic, purchased the top-priced Lot 9 for $7000.
Ulandi Park 240534 weighed 125kg, with one of the leading Terminal Carcase Production Australian Sheep Breeding Values index in the catalogue at 146.
The ram had a raw eye muscle depth of 54 and fat of 8.5.
Grant said the sire had “stood out to us for months, it is a very correct long ram with good presence about him, just a really good sheep.”
It also had Lean Meat Yield and Carcase Eye Muscle Depth ASBVs in the top 20 percentile.
Another Poll Dorset going as a stud sire was Lot 3, purchased by Ben and Lucy Prentice of Kurralea stud at Ariah Park, NSW, at $6000.
Janmac 240810 was a “good all-round ram” according to Ben Prentice.
“I think it will be a real stud sire and do a good job across a wide range of ewes,” he said.
The ram had a post weaning weight ASBV of 16.42, and lean meat yield of 3.24%.
Weighing 126kg, it scanned an EMD of 53m and 8m of fat.
Regular buyers at Janmac for the past 40 years, the Rich family of Goroke, Vic, purchased 21 Poll Dorset rams at the sale for an average of $1528, topping at $1600.
Also buying in bulk were the Robinson family of Ullswater, Vic, who picked up 14 Poll Dorset rams, to a top of $1600 and averaging $1428.
The West family of Westwood Pty Ltd at Edenhope, Vic, selected 13 rams across the two breeds, topping at $1800 and paying an average of $1530.
Neuarpurr Plains, Horsham, Vic, picked up 10, also operating across both Poll Dorsets and White Suffolks, and paid an average of $1260.
Across the border from Penola, SA, Karinya Farms, purchased nine new sires, to a top of $2400 and average of $1833.
AWN Wimmera’s Dustin Cross said considering the way the season had been over the past 12 months, the rams presented in amazing condition.
“They were some of the best groups the boys have put forward and it showed in the spirited bidding,” he said.
“The top end of the flock rams were $2300 to $2000, which proves the quality of them and that those growers coming and getting top end rams from Janmac each year are getting the results.”
