Harvested History: what makes a ram worth $450,000? Collinsville's world record in 1989
In the lead up to this year's Royal Adelaide Show, we're looking back to one of the biggest agricultural stories to come out of the event's storied history - a Collinsville ram selling for nearly half a million dollars.
In the heart of a boom period for the wool industry, rams had sold for six figures at three consecutive Adelaide Ram Sales and $810,000 was spent on the first two rams in 1989.
Read how the day was reported in the Stock Journal on September 14, 1989, in our first Harvested History.
If you have suggestions for other momentous days in South Australian agriculture that we should revisit, please email Stock Journal editor Quinton McCallum - q.mccallum@stockjournal.com.au - or let us know in the comments!
World record falls! Collinsville hits $450,000
By Peter Fuller
The annual Adelaide Ram Sale reasserted itself as the premier international Merino selling centre last week, when a new record price of $450,000 was set by the Collinsville stud, Mt Bryan.
Although there is an expectation every year that the record books will be rewritten in Adelaide, there was still a sense of awe that an individual sheep, however outstanding, could almost reach the magical half million dollar mark.
Once again Richard Nitschke, Willogoleche, Hallett was the buyer. The stud breeder has paid the top price for Collinsville Merinos at the last three sales: $215,000 in 1987, $188,000 in 1988 and $450,000 this year and has set new world records twice during that period.
His record bid for Lot 2 in the Elders Pastoral catalogue, JC & S 53 an exceptionally long stapled, large framed, heavy cutting Merino, came minutes after Lot 1, JC & S 20, had sold for $360,000, also a world record, to a South African partnership.
The buyers, same-named cousins Andries Pienaar who run studs at Colesberg and Hanover, South Africa, will leave the powerfully built, deep, quality woolled sire at Elders Genetic Services, Mt Bryan from where semen will be collected and sold.
The world record price eclipsed the previous world record set in Dubbo last year when a Collinsville Merino sold for $330,000 to developer Mike Gore.
Willogoleche will run their sire in the paddock for its first year, according to Richard Nitschke, who then plans to sell semen both locally and for export.
He said the ram had been purchased to continue his stud's development of heavy cutting, soft handling medium woolled sheep and he was keen to see the benefits in his own stud, before releasing quantities of semen onto the market.
Under the selling conditions laid down by Collinsville, Nitschke received 2000 doses of semen from JC & S 53.
However, 25 pc of the proceeds of semen sold will return to Collinsville, to fund the continued development of their ram breeding program.
Collinsville principal Neil Garnett said the two top priced rams were "unique animals" and would never have been sold without the advent of artificial breeding technology.
He said their impact on Collinsville's breeding program would have been too valuable to lose.
However, enough semen had been stored to maintain their genetic influence on Collinsville's flock well into the next century.
He praised Richard Nitschke for his "enormous investment and vote of confidence in Australia's wool industry".
The Collinsville achievement was the highlight of an otherwise difficult sale at Adelaide, marked by an absence of overseas buyers and unpredictable local bidding.
A significant part of the Dalgety Bennetts Farmers catalogue was passed in and some of the state's top studs still had rams left in both sheds at the end of selling, which is almost unprecedented.
Nevertheless export buyers bought 190 out of the 191 rams sold in a specially organised two tooth video auction which followed the main sales, proving that their interest in SA sheep is still strong.
The Poll Merino stud of EM Davidson's Moorundie Park, Gulnare completed a winning week at the Royal Show, selling their supreme champion for $104,000 to a syndicate headed by R Tiller, Yupiri, Balaklava.
The ram will stand at the Mid North Artificial Breeding Centre, Clare.
The final results of the sale were 137 Merinos sold for $1,330,800 at an average of $15,123 while 131 Poll Merinos sold for a gross of $608,300 averaging $5431.
Why pay so much?
That was the question buzzing around the Royal Adelaide Show last Thursday when the crowd of sheep men and women from all over the state were again amazed by six figure leading stud, Collinsville Pty Ltd.
In just five minutes a South African buyer and SA breeder Richard Nitschke had spent $810,000, the price of a small to medium sized farm in SA, on two four legged animals.
Incredulous as the majority of farmers may be, to the buyers these rams represent gilt edged investments.
While Richard Nitschke is aiming for further improvement in his medium wool stud, it will be the results of semen collection at the Mt Bryan-based Elders Genetic Centre which will pay for the rams.
Even selling a minimum of 3000 doses a year at a price of $50 to $80 per dose, should pay the interest admirably.
Tom Padbury, long time studmaster at Collinsville, sees each of his sheep as individuals and these were "unique", he said.
"Before the introduction of the semen collection technology, these rams would have been too valuable as breeders, to sell," he said.
"However, we have enough semen saved to continue their influence."
Mr Padbury described the $450,000 world champion as an "absolute quality sheep".
"He is big, well-made, with choice, rich, pure medium wool a very long staple and a covering that goes well down, while the runner-up at $360,000 stood out because of its conformation, its heavy bone and frame and magnificent head and structure," Mr Padbury said.
