All but one of the 116 rams on offer sold at East Loddon Merino Stud's on-property sale at Wanganella on Thursday. The 115 May/June 2022 drop rams were knocked down to a top-price of $5500 and an average of $2055. Tom Hooke, East Loddon, said he was happy with the result and was particularly pleased with some new clients taking rams home. "With it being our second year of putting up 120 rams the clearance was great," he said. The top-priced ram was tag number 220122, sold for $5500 to Travis and Lynette Fernandes, Winjallok, Victoria. The single born ram ranked in the top 10 per cent for yearling staple length (YSL) and had fleece measurements of 17.7 micron, 14.6 coefficient of variation, 2.6 standard deviation and 99.8 comfort factor. Mr Fernandes said the ram had exceptional wool and was a good upstanding ram. The Fernandes' run a commercial flock joining about 2500 ewes and have been buying from East Loddon for more than 20 years. "They perform well in our environment," he said. Mr Fernandes said they aim to breed quick growing animals to sell wethers to the meat trade, as well as having a good wool cut. "We sell our surplus ewes when we can," he said. Mr Hooke said the top-priced ram had an elite fibre on him. "He's got good balanced figures to go with that," he said. The sale was conducted by AWN and was interfaced with AuctionsPlus. Full report to come.
