Roemahkita Poll Merino rams reach five figures at Cummins on-property sale
A strong contingent of bidders and onlookers filled the barn at Cummins for the Watson family's first solo ram sale since purchasing Roemahkita.
The 35th annual sale for the Poll Merino stud, which was previously owned by the Dahlitz family, reached an impressive $10,500 top.
A total of 101 of 109 rams sold at auction for an average of $1632 and stud co-principal Aaron Watson said he was rapt with the result.
During last year's auction the stud sold 108 of 110 rams to a $8250 top and an average of $2016.
"We're stoked with the clearance," he said.
"Obviously, the average was down a bit, but that's to be expected this year with the seasonal conditions.
"People have tightened belts, which is fully understandable but we had great support and we're really pleased with the result."
Elders stud stock's Tony Wetherall said the sale had depth from Lot 1 to Lot 110.
"The sale was outstanding," he said.
"The lineup was excellent and there's a lot to look forward to at Roemahkita."
Repeat buyer Maurice Collins, MA & BJ Collins, Mount Pleasant, picked up the top price ram in addition to Lot 5 for $6000.
Sold at Lot 30, the sale-topper was sired by Roemahkita 220218.
Its fleece had a micron of 16, 2.2 for standard deviation, 13.5 for coefficient of variation and 100 per cent comfort factor.
The non-mulesed ram had a hogget weight of 109kg, a hogget fat score of 8.5 and a hogget eye muscle depth of 43.4.
Mr Watson said the ram had strong interest from stud and commercial buyers alike after showing it at the Australian Sheep and Wool Show at Bendigo, Vic, earlier this month.
While Mr Collins was the ram's successful buyer, GullenGamble Poll Merinos, Yeoval, NSW, was the underbidder.
"He exceeded our expectations at $10,500," Mr Watson said.
"He's very structurally correct and sound, has great raw data and suits a lot of different areas.
"Maurice is a really loyal client of the stud for many years so we're happy to see the ram go his way."
Volume buyers LS&JM Newton Trust, Elliston, picked up 12 rams at an average of $1466, while Devon Station, Broken Hill, NSW, took home 10 at $1000 a head.
Nutrien stud stock auctioneer Gordon Wood said while the stud's average was back from last year, the sale was overwhelmingly positive.
"Given catastrophic pricing and then a dry period like no one's ever experienced this result is great," he said.
"It's really good for the Watson family going forward and hopefully it boosts their confidence to keep going.
"They're already reinvesting back into the future for their producers so that's exciting to see."
Looking ahead, Mr Watson said he was excited to offer rams from new and established sires.
"We just picked up a new sire from Kamora Park that we bought privately at Bendigo for $40,000," he said.
"We really liked his sire and saw him at Bendigo two years ago, so we're looking forward to seeing that bloodline progress.
"We also have some exciting sires we've bred ourselves and those lambs are looking really exciting."
