Market, weather and politics challenge WA Merino breeders and buyers

After enduring a tough selling season last year, it became even harder for Merino breeders this year.

Right across the State, breeders saw reduced demand from buyers, which had an impact on both prices and the number of rams sold at sales this year.

The impact of the driest six months (December 2023 to May 2024) on record affecting all of the State, the inability to sell stock early in the year, high feed prices, the price crash which saw sheep in some cases almost unmarketable, and the wool market showing no signs of improvement, as well as the Federal government passing legislation in July that live sheep exports by sea will cease on May 1, 2028, all contributed to a lack of producer confidence.

With their confidence in the sheep and wool industry at probably its lowest point since the collapse of the Wool Reserve Price Scheme in 1991, many producers, even some of the most die-hard woolgrowers, have either decided to join more ewes to terminal sires, reduce their sheep numbers and crop more, or completely disperse their flocks, and it was these decisions that had a bearing on Merino ram sales this year.

When the final numbers were crunched, it showed all the figures were back on last year, but even more worrying when compared to the record-breaking years of 2021 and 2022, both the number of rams sold and the average price were back between 20 and 30 per cent.

The final overall result was disappointing for stud breeders given the time and effort they put into breeding and preparing rams for sale.

During Merino and Poll Merino sales, a total of 7144 rams were offered at 64 sales, broken into 57 single vendor sales and seven multi vendor sales and 6009 of these rams sold under the hammer for a clearance of 84 per cent, a gross of $9,301,650 and an average of $1548.

As a result of the continued lack of confidence in both the sheep and wool industries, for a second year running, all the figures for the season were back.

In the 2023 season there were 6906 rams sold from 8055 offered (86pc) for a gross of $11,260,850 and an average of $1631.

So compared to last year there were 911 or 11pc less rams offered, 897 or 13pc less rams sold and the clearance was back 2pc, while the average was down 5pc or $83 and the gross was back more than $1.959 million or 17pc.

But if you compare this season to the highest ever averaging season for Merino breeders just two years ago in 2022 when 8931 rams were offered and 8328 were sold for a gross of $16,037,100 and average of $1926, it is not pleasant reading.

In comparison to 2022, this year there were 1787 or 20pc less rams offered, 2319 or 28pc less rams sold, the gross was back more than $6.735 million or 42pc and the average was down $378 or 20pc.

When you examine the sale results back to when Farm Weekly first started recording them in 1996, the number of rams offered and sold this year was the lowest on record.

While the number of rams offered and sold were at their lowest levels since 1996, the Merino was still the most dominant breed when it came to market share.

The market share for Merinos for the number of rams sold this year was 53pc, which was down 2pc on 2023, while in terms of the gross figure, the Merino breed held 56.5pc of the market, which was down 4.5pc on last year.

The more than $9.3m gross figure achieved this year, ranks as the 18th largest for the breed and the lowest recorded since 2013.

The highest gross ever recorded at Merino sales in a season is $16,902,020, achieved in 2018 when 9469 rams sold from 10,046 offered.

This year's overall average of $1631 ranks as equal seventh best of all time and the equal lowest since 2017.

The drop in industry confidence hasn't just been restricted to commercial producers - WA's Merino stud breeders are also worried about what the future holds for them as the WA sheep flock continues to decline.

This lack of confidence can be demonstrated when you look at the number of rams that sold for more than five figures compared to last year, showing their reluctance to outlay money to reinvest in new genetics.

Last year there were 16 rams which sold for $10,000 or more and in 2022 there were 24.

This year there were only nine rams which sold for more than $10,000 in sales.

Of the nine rams to sell for $10,000 or more, eight were Polls, while five sold to WA studs, one to a WA commercial producer and three to an Eastern States' stud.

Prices at Merino sales this season peaked at $15,000 when the Lewis family, Lewisdale stud, Wickepin, sold a four tooth, full wool Poll Merino at their on-property sale in September, which was well down on the $41,000 top price achieved last season.

The big productive 148 kilogram ram was purchased by Lewisdale client of eight years Rejall Park, Miga Lake, Victoria.

The ram that goes back to influential Lewisdale sire George, was sold with wool figures of 20.1 micron and 99.2 per cent comfort factor (CF).

The next best price was $14,500 and it was achieved by the Mackin family, Kamballie stud, Tammin.

The Mackins achieved the price for a two-tooth Poll Merino ram at their on-property sale in September when the ram was purchased by the Patterson family, Woolkabin stud, Woodanilling.

The 124kg ram was by Glenlea Park 'Crippa' 21-0482 and had wool figures of 19.2 micron, 4.1 SD and a 98.7pc CF.

Also in the sale the Pattersons purchased another Crippa son for $10,500.

The third top price was $13,500 and this was achieved by the Gooding and Robinson families, East Mundalla stud, Tarin Rock, at the Rabobank WA Sheep Expo & Ram Sale at Katanning in August, when it sold a two-tooth, March Poll Merino ram at this value in partnership to the Seymour Park stud, Highbury and the Crichton Vale stud, Narembeen, with a semen share going to the Kamora Park stud, Sandalwood, South Australia.

The ram is a son of East Mundalla Masterbuilt 89 and it had wool figures of 17.9 micron, 3.1 SD, 17.5 CV and 99.5pc CF.

Rounding out the top four prices was the Dewar family's Woodyarrup stud, Broomehill, when it sold the season's highest priced Merino ram for $12,000 at the stud's on-property sale in October to first-time buyers the Nicholas family, Brooklands stud, Woodbury, Tasmania.

The 134.5kg April-drop ram is ET-bred by a Wanganella 170470 son, Woodyarrup 201937, and out of a top Woodyarrup donor ewe.

It had wool figures of 18.8 micron, 2.9 SD, 15.3 CV and 99.8pc CF, while on MerinoSelect it ranked in the top 1pc for adult clean fleece weight and 5pc for yearling clean fleece weight and the wool production index, while it is in the top 20pc for yearling weight, fibre diameter and the fine wool index.

Other studs to record prices of more than $10,000 at on-property sales were Manunda, Tammin ($10,500, Poll) and Westerdale, McAlinden ($10,000, Poll), while at the Rabobank WA Sheep Expo & Ram Sale the Seymour Park stud sold a Poll ram for $10,500 and Coromandel stud, Gairdner, sold a Poll Merino at $10,000.

Along with the above-mentioned rams which sold for $10,000 or more at sales this year, there were also a number of rams which sold for $10,000 or more in private sales.

The biggest of these was $25,000 for a March shorn, two-tooth Poll Merino sire sold privately by the East Mundalla stud at the Rabobank WA Sheep Expo & Ram Sale, to the Kamballie stud in partnership with the Rockdale Valley stud, Muntadgin.

Also at this event, the East Mundalla stud sold a March shorn, two-tooth Poll Merino ram for $20,000 to Argentina and another March shorn, two-tooth Poll Merino ram for $13,000 to Oakfarms stud, Buckleboo, South Australia.

There were also another four studs to sell rams privately to Argentina at the Rabobank WA Sheep Expo & Ram Sale and they were Manunda ($18,000, two-tooth Poll); Barloo, Gnowangerup ($16,500, two-tooth Merino); Wililoo, Woodanilling ($12,000, two-tooth Merino) and Woolkabin ($10,000, two-tooth Poll Merino).

At the Narrogin Long Wool Day, the Mullan family's Eastville Park stud, Wickepin, negotiated the sale of a March shorn, two-tooth Poll Merino for $20,000 to the East Mundalla stud and Rockdale Valley stud, while in July at the Australian Sheep & Wool Show at Bendigo, Victoria, the Seymour Park stud sold a full wool Poll Merino ram for $20,000 to the Wilgunya stud, Dirranbandi, Queensland.

Also during the season at their on-property sales both the East Strathglen stud, Tambellup and the Warralea stud, Gairdner, announced they had sold two Poll Merino rams at $10,000.

Single vendor

At the 57 single vendor sales, there were 6612 rams offered, which was down 662 head on last year and 5559 sold under the hammer, which was down 696 head on 2023.

At these sales a total of 16 studs increased their offerings or offered the same numbers as 2023, while 19 sales saw the same number or more rams sold than 2023.

Like the number of rams sold this year, the gross and average figures for single vendor sales fell.

The average fell by $84 (down 5pc) on last year's result of $1649, while it was back $395 or 20pc on the 2022 average of $1960, the best ever record.

When it came to the gross figure it dropped by $1,610,250 or 26pc to $8,701,200 from $10,311,450 in 2023.

This year the Mackin family, Kamballie stud, claimed the honour of recording the highest average at a single vendor sale.

Kamballie achieved an average $2462 at its on-property sale in early September when it achieved a complete clearance of the 180 rams offered.

There were only two other sales to average more than $2000 and they were East Mundalla, ($2086, 140 offered, 127 sold) and Lewisdale ($2062, 250, 250).

This meant only three sales this season averaged $2000 or more compared to six last year.

In addition to this, there were another 20 sales that averaged between $1500 and $2000 and of these there were a number to average more than $1800.

The sales to average more than $1800 included Woodyarrup ($1921); White Springs, Calingiri ($1871), Manunda ($1860); Moojepin, Katanning ($1853); Angenup, Kojonup ($1832); Barloo/Willemenup, Gnowangerup ($1829); Wiringa Park, Nyabing ($1829); Kolindale on-property, Dudinin ($1826) and Seymour Park, ($1822).

There were also 22 sales which averaged between $1000 and $1500.

This meant a total of 48 sales averaged $1000 or more, compared to 51 in 2023.

With the overall average for single vendor sales being down $84 compared to last year, it is not surprising there wasn't a large number of sales to record a lift in average.

This year there were 17 sales that recorded a rise in average and these rises ranged between $3 and $591.

Recording the largest jump in average was White Springs, which recorded a $591 increase.

The next five largest rises were recorded at Parakeelya, Beacon ($538), Hill Padua, Three Springs ($306); Belmont Park, Wagin ($270); Rangeview, Darkan ($238) and Kamballie ($187).

A total clearance is a hard task in any year and this year was no different.

Six sales achieved the feat and they were Lewisdale (250); Manunda (200); Kamballie (180); Anderson, Kojonup (164); Cramore, Walebing (130) and Darijon, Narrogin (65) and this is not surprising given the overall clearance rate for single vendor sales was 84pc.

Those just shy of 100pc and achieving a clearance of more than 95pc were Arra-dale, Carnamah; Hill Padua; San-Mateo, Brookton and White Springs.

While a number of sales did see good clearance rates, there were some sales that did record clearance levels less than 50pc and as low as 35pc.

The Ledwith family, Dudinin, with its Kolindale, Eastville and Derella Downs/Pyramid Poll ram sales, again presented the largest offering of rams to buyers, cataloguing 575 rams and selling 500 at three different sales.

It offered 286 and sold 260 at its on-property Kolindale sale, which was the second biggest offering this year at a single sale, while at its Eastville and Cardiff bloodline on-property sale it offered 137 head and sold 125 head.

The Ledwith family's third sale was its Kolindale and Derella Downs/Pyramid Poll Esperance sale, where it sold 48 from 50 from Kolindale rams offered and 67 from 102 Derella Downs/Pyramid Poll rams offered.

Beating the Ledwith family by the barest of margins for the title of the biggest single vendor sale in terms of numbers offered was the House family's Barloo/Willemenup on-property sale.

In this fixture the House family offered 290 rams from its two studs and sold 223.

The next biggest and the only others to offer more than 200 rams were Woodyarrup (253 offered, 229 sold); Lewisdale (250, 250); Eastville Park/Quailerup West (224, 179); Nepowie (219, 179); Manunda (200, 200) and Wiringa Park (200, 191).

All up there were seven sales where 200 or more rams were offered compared to eight last year and 11 in 2022, while there were six sales where 200 or more were sold, compared to seven in 2023.

The largest grossing single vendor sale and the only sale to gross more than $500,000 this year was Lewisdale which grossed $515,400.

2024 Merino Ram Sales Summary

Last year there were four sales to gross $500,000 or more.

The next four biggest grossing sales and the only ones to achieve a gross between $400,000 and $500,000 were the Kolindale on-property ($474,700); Kamballie ($443,100); Woodyarrup ($440,000) and Barloo/Willemenup ($407,900).

There were another 12 sales to gross between $200,000 and $400,000 to give a total of 17 sales with a gross figure of $200,000 or more, which was down from 18 last year.

Multi vendor

This season there were 532 rams offered under the hammer at seven multi-vendor ram sales from 21 studs, which was back 249 head and of these 450 sold, down 201 head on last season.

One of the main reasons for the drop off in the number of rams offered and sold at the multi-vendor sales this year was the Merredin Breeders' Sale folding.

In the Merredin sale last year two studs combined to offer 133 rams and sell 110.

But it wasn't only the folding of the Merredin sale which had an impact on the number of rams offered and sold compared to last year - all the sales held saw a reduction in both the number of rams offered and sold compared to last year.

The sales which saw the biggest reduction in offering sizes were the Esperance Breeders' sale and the Williams Breeders' sale where the offerings decreased by 47 and 34 head respectively compared to last year.

The overall average for multi-vendor sales was $1334 and in comparison to last year, it was back $124 while it was back $363 on the 2021 average of $1697, which is the best ever recorded.

Four of the seven sales achieved an average of more than $1000, while there was only one which averaged more than $1500.

It was no surprise the highest multi-vendor sale average was chalked up at the Rabobank WA Sheep Expo & Ram Sale when it realised an average of $7045 over the 11 rams sold from the 12 offered.

At that sale, studs which sold more than two rams and achieved an average of more than $5000 were East Mundalla ($9500, 2 sold); Angenup ($7000, 2); and Seymour Park ($6500, 3).

The next highest average was $1434 achieved at the Esperance Breeders' sale where four studs sold 173 rams from 212 offered.

Other sales that averaged more than $1000 were Williams ($1386) and Quairading ($1055).

Studs participating in two tooth multi-vendor sales outside the Rabobank WA Sheep Expo & Ram Sale that recorded averages of more than $1200, included Westwood (80 offered, 75 sold, $1717 average), Narinup (12, 6, $1617) and Wattle Dale (80, 75, $1309) at Esperance, as well as Toorackie (40, 38, $1513) and Navanvale (44, 40, $1325) at Williams.

There were four sales this year to post an increase in average compared to 2023.

The biggest of these increases was at the Northampton ram sale where a rise of $202 was recorded.

The other sales to see a lift in average were Williams, Quairading and Wongan Hills.

Like the past two years there were again no multi-vendor sales to achieve 100pc clearance.

There were four sales to achieve an overall clearance rate of 85pc and they were Rabobank WA Sheep Expo & Ram Sale (92); Williams (91); Quairading (89) and Northampton (88).

The largest yarding of rams at a multi-vendor fixture was again seen at the Esperance sale where 212 rams were offered and 173 sold.

Other larger offerings were at Williams (95 offered, 86 sold) and Northampton (98, 86).

The largest grossing sale was also the Esperance sale at $248,100 and it was the only sale to gross more than $200,000.

There was only one other sale to gross more than $100,000 and that was the Williams sale where a figure of $119,200 was tallied.