Diversity in enterprise: Bundilla buyers chase wool cut, balance, fertility

Return clients of nearly two decades have secured the top-priced ram at the Baldwin family's 40th Bundilla Poll Merino ram sale, on Wednesday, October 1.

Held on-property at Bundilla, near Young, rams sold south to Victoria and across NSW, supported by buyers new and old chasing high fleece cutting weights and growth traits for their own flocks.

At auction, 244 of 277 rams sold to a $9000 top and averaged $2982, with most passed-in lots selling shortly after the sale.

The Nunn family, Snake Valley, Vic, purchased Bundilla 241957 for $9000, along with four other rams to average a total $6000 across the five lots.

The top ram, 97 kilograms, by Bundilla 220373 and from Bundilla 191212, was born a twin, with a yearling clean fleece weight (YCFW) in the top 20pc at +28.3.

The ram was also ranked in the top 20pc of the breed on the sustainable merino (SM) index at 152, and in the top 10pc for post weaning weight at +10 Australian Sheep Breeding Values (ASBV.)

Ken Nunn said the ram had an evenness and balance that drew the attention of multiple buyers.

"We like him, his all-around ability, his wool and his woolcut, and his micron is right, there's a reason why [he was the top ram], all his figures are pretty good," he said.

"We don't have a stud, but we pick out our best ewes and we use [the Bundilla rams] on them."

Running about 13,000 head in Victoria's Pyrenees, Mr Nunn said the Bundilla bloodlines suited the conditions, while still offering a high return on wool cut.

"We do what we do best, which is wool. I'm lucky, my two boys are interested in wool as well," he said.

"We'll keep doing what we do, do it well, and do it better."

Second-top priced ram, Bundilla 243009, sold to Green Park Pastoral, Lake Bolac, Vic. By Bundilla 222583 and from 211443, the 89.5kg ram ranked in the top 5pc of the breed for YCFW at +37.7, with post weaning, yearling and maternal weaning weights all in the top 10pc at +10.4, +12.1 and +1.3, respectively.

Volume buyers Ben Lane and Jared Walker, on behalf of Windridge Farms, Young, secured 29 rams to average $2310, while AAC Co selected 12 rams to an average $2250.

JA and DM Janetzki, Rainbow, Henty secured four rams to average $4250, including Bundilla 240968, who ranked in the top 5pc of the breed for YCFW at +36.6 and a score of 160 for sustainable merino.

The ram weighed 82.5kg, by Bundilla 211810 and from Bundilla 221152, with a recorded fibre diameter of 16.6 micron, a 2.3 micron standard deviation and a 14.1pc coefficient of variation.

First-time buyers Ashley and Kim Whitechurch, Wendouree Poll Merino, Bimbi, near Grenfell, were seeking a sire for their stud, targeting bright wool and minimal breech wrinkle.

"We're looking to spear into the non-mulesed section of things, we're trying to keep our feet correct too," Mr Whitechurch said.

"It's about good foot posture and good style of wool, that bold crimp style."

The father and son purchased Bundilla 243030 for $3500. The ram recorded a YCFW and yearling fibre diameter in the top 20pc of the breed, at +30.3 and -2.0, respectively, with a recorded fleece diameter of 16.7, standard deviation of 3.2 and a 19.1pc coefficient of variation.

Stud co-principal Rick Baldwin said rewarding production traits stood out for the rams brought to sale.

"We're very proud of what we presented this year and excited by the results we got. The sheep were visually pleasing with really good production figures had a lot of competition on them," he said.

"The balance of the animals is very attractive ... They're very well-rounded, balanced to wool traits for carcase traits, and leading for fertility."

Co-principal Jill Baldwin added that running their rams commercially helped provide buyers with a preview of their performance in new pastures.

"That's reality, once they leave here, they're run commercially, so we [work to] get the best out of them," she said.

"Clients want to see them in their working clothes ... It gives them a lot of diversity with their sheep enterprise," Mr Baldwin said.

The sale was conducted by Nutrien Ag Solutions with guest auctioneer Paul Dooley, Tamworth, and Rick Power, Nutrien, and interfaced online with StockLive.