Terrick West sets benchmark, conducting first ram sale of the season

Terrick West Poll Merino stud, Prairie, sold its top-priced ram at its on-property sale to a well-known NSW stud.

Craig and Tessa Johnston, Austral-Eden Merino stud, West Wyalong, NSW, picked up the sale-topper, Lot 1, for a sizeable $12,000.

The ram, TW240283 PP, was presented as a feature lot at the sale, and Terrick West will retain 300 straws of semen for their own use.

Austral-Eden had picked up some of the stud's genetics three years ago and Mr and Ms Johnston were happy with the results at their own operation.

Stud adviser and sheep classer Chris Bowman, Hay, NSW, was at the sale and purchased the ram on behalf of the Johnstons.

Mr Bowman said he liked the "barrel and the shape of the sheep".

"He's got very good constitution, good leg structure and conformation, and he's covered with a very well-nourished, stylish, crimpy wool," he said.

He said the ram was non-mulesed and also had good carcase traits.

"He's just a complete stud sheep for what we're trying to achieve," he said.

The ram will be joined with some of Austral-Eden's thicker-locked ewes.

The stud sells 80-100 Merino rams a year.

The top-priced ram's fleece measured 19.1 micron, with a standard deviation of 2.8, coefficient variation of 14.9 and comfort factor of 99.8 per cent.

The May 2024-drop ram was sired by Terrick West 220029 and out of Terrick West 231037.

Terrick West stud co-principal Ross McGauchie said the mother of the ram's sire was one of the best ewes in the flock.

"The ram that he's by, his mother is probably one of our best breeding ewes," he said.

"He's got that depth behind him."

Mr McGauchie said he and daughter Claire made the decision to sell the ram just a few weeks ago.

"We wanted to have a really good ram in the sale this year and it's gone very well," he said.

"He's going to a good stud in NSW and we'll use semen out of him and hopefully have some sons here in a couple of years' time."

Overall, the stud sold 57 rams from the 80 offered for an average of $3021.

A number of rams were sold privately following the sale.

This compared to the stud's 2024 sale, which saw 65 of 84 rams sold, with an average price of $3188 and a top of $10,000.

Mr McGauchie said the "average was fantastic".

Just three rams were passed in from the first 40 lots, with the clearance only dipping towards the end.

"You always expect a few to be passed in but it was just a few more than we would have hoped," he said.

"Overall, we were very happy with the sale.

"The strong end of the sale has been fantastic."

As well as the top-priced ram buyer, approximately half of the stud's rams were sold into NSW.

"It's interesting that the strongest demand has come out of NSW, where they've had a better season," Mr McGauchie said.

"Some of our regular [Victorian] clients that've had a very dry 12 months, even longer, have bought feed and they've sort of cut back a bit on the number of rams they've bought.

"But NSW has been quite good and they've come in very strong.

"We're very pleased with that."

He said the Terrick West rams had not been pushed in recent months, given the challenging season.

"When they were on their mums and after they were weaned, the job was very tough," he said.

Mr McGauchie said the stud's genetics were presenting well.

"We're very pleased that we're getting that really good combination of structure and meat and the depth through the whole sale," he said.

Elders auctioneer Ross Milne said at $3021, the sale saw a "good average".

"The clearance was fairly similar to last year as well," he said.

"At the better end, we could certainly see a lot of activity.

"There were quite a lot of rams sold between $3000-$5000 in the first 40 rams.

"Really, in the back half, people got a little bit of value at $1500."

The Terrick West sale was the first spring ram sale for the state and Mr Milne felt it was a good start.

He said the sheep industry had to work to get ewe numbers back up to normal levels.

"[We have to] get the rebuild going and get our numbers back up, particularly after the dry period of time we've experienced over the past 18 months," he said.

"There is money in Merino sheep, the lamb job is very good, the mutton job is very good as well, and the wool job has improved from where it was this time last year.

"So, there's a little bit of optimism there."

Murray Miller, Nhill, was again a volume buyer at the sale.

Mr Miller took home eight rams for his own 2000 ewe commercial Merino operation, the same amount he bought at the 2024 sale.

He said he liked the "overall quality" of the Terrick West sheep.

"The wool is brilliant," he said.

"They're a nice, practical sheep, which is very important, and just a good size."

His new draft of rams would be joined with maiden ewes in November.

He said last year's rams performed "magnificently" and he was "very pleased" with how their lambs had turned out.

GT & CL Morey, Urangeline East, NSW, were another volume buyer at the sale.

A Wagga Regional Livestock agent bought six rams on their behalf.