'Outstanding' sale for Yalgoo Merinos with demand from four states

The supply and demand fundamentals are yet to catch up with wool production, and Jock Nivison, principal of the Yalgoo stud, Walcha, believes Saturday's Merino genetics sale was an 'outstanding result'.

With a top price of $7500, buyers from Queensland, Victoria, NSW and Tasmania bid up on the 93 rams, averaging $2908 from the 115 offered.

Mr Nivison said wool had a great future and those who continued producing it would be handsomely rewarded as demand and need grew in the near future.

Repeat volume buyers were the solid foundation of the sale.

After buying 24 rams last year, Grampian Farm Holdings, Cavendish, Victoria, stepped into the catalogue, securing 22 to a top price of $6500, averaging $3409.

Dale Bruns, a sheep and wool specialist at the Australian Wool Network (AWN) in Dunkeld, Vic, represented the buyers.

He said the draft from this year's sale would be added to the sire battery accumulated in 2024.

A decision to convert the lamb production flock to wool growers would generate a flock of 15,000 to 17,000 ewes on Grampian Farms, Mr Bruns said.

"We've been using Boorona genetics in the past, so these (Yalgoo) genetics will be a good mix of sweet, white wools, and the Yalgoo rams will help us get a bit finer," he said.

The buyer of the top-price ram was John Williamson, Whorouly, near Wangaratta, Victoria.

Mr Williamson runs a flock of 1500 18-microns ewes and has just started a small Merino stud.

He said he was working on building worm resistance in his flock, and his new sire would provide that genetic potential.

Y21532 sired the ram (tag number 291), and its MerinoSelect Australian Sheep Breeding Values (ASBVs) for yearling worm egg count (YWEC) were -51 - in the top 30 per cent of the catalogue.

Laurels Pastoral, The Laurels, Woodstock, was another large buyer of top-end rams. It paid a top price of $4500 for nine rams, for an average price of $2888.

Tom, Kate and Rachel Rummery, Wandjina Pastoral, Bendemeer, bought four rams, paying a top price of $6500 for four rams averaging $4125.

Two buyers from western Queensland were influential in the sale result.

Grant and Suz Laidler of Kappa Ki, Longreach, bought 10 rams on their third visit to Yalgoo. They paid $5500 for 10 rams, which averaged $2000.

Mr Taylor said introducing the Yalgoo genetics was a measure to "supercharge their wool".

"Suz and I believe its a good direction to put a higher value fleece on our ewes," he said.

They run about 3000 ewes on 12,145 exclusion-fenced hectares about 114 kilometres south of Longreach.

They used Queensland stud rams that produce 20-micron wool and earn under $30 a DSE (dry sheep equivalent) EBIT (earnings before income tax) before switching to Yalgoo genetics.

"Our fleece weights weren't where they should be, so we're trying to drive our productivity," he said.

Mr Laidler said all the ewes had been mid-side sample tested, and the plan was to increase earnings/DSE to $45 to $500 EBIT with an eventual aim of $60/DSE.

Peter and Kimble Thomas, Beaconsfield, Ilfracombe, and Qld were also volume buyers of rams, with six rams to a top of $4000, averaging $2083.

They have been buying the Walcha district rams for three years and have taken this pathway because Mr Thomas believes Yalgoo Merinos have demonstrated how their flock performs in key traits.

"Our focus is on improving our wool, and these sheep are surviving and producing in our conditions, and we're not seeing any drop in fleece weight," Mr Thomas said.

Last week, Mr and Mrs Thomas sold their lambswool through Elder and posted one of the top wool prices in the nation.

Their 14.3-micron wool with a 60 per cent yield and tensile strength of 39nkt made 1688 cents a kilogram greasy.

"Yalgoo's focus on the profit-driving genetic traits and their evidence of improvement is what we find appealing," he said.

"They aren't traditional genetics for our environment.

"Since we have been on them, the fibre diameter of our flock has been decreasing with no significant reduction in fleece and all that on a sensible-sized sheep."

Pam O'Neill, of Ellamatta, Bolivia, bought a pen of 494 young ewes from Charlie Street, Blaxland Partnership, Walcha, for $100 a head. She also bought six rams to a top of $6500, averaging $2833.

Elders' Walcha and Adcock Partners were the selling agents, Paul Dooley was the auctioneer, and AuctionsPlus provided the online interface.