Son of late Narrawong farmer buys top Moora Hills ram to continue tradition

The son of a well-known late Narrawong sheep farmer has picked up the top-priced ram at the Moora Hills Poll Dorset stud, Broadwater, ram sale.

Stephen Cocks, Narrawong, bought the ram, Lot 12, for a steady $2100 on Wednesday, October 8.

His father John Cocks bred Poll Dorset sheep for many years, supplying to a handful of loyal clients, and died in June 2024.

"I just wanted to continue it on," Stephen said.

Moora Hills stud co-principal Linton Price, who runs the operation with his father Barry, said John had bought rams from him for a long time.

"John had been coming since day dot, the first sale," Linton said.

"It was great to see his son continue that tradition."

Stephen also bought a second ram at the sale.

He said his new rams would be joined to some pedigree Poll Dorset ewes to breed stud rams for use on his own commercial Coopworth flock.

He said he chased the rams because he believed they would be good ones.

Linton said the sale topper stood out since it was a lamb.

The October 2024-drop ram was the very last lamb born on the farm last year, but despite this, it made up ground on rams that were two to four months older.

"He was as good as any of the rams in the pens," Linton said.

"He certainly wasn't a big ram, though.

"His structure was correct and he had a great outlook."

He said the ram had a "beautiful set of figures on him", with a number of traits in the top percentage of the breed.

The ram weighed 90 kilograms and had a weaning weight of +9.79 kilograms.

Lot 12, 24-294, was sired by D210930, a ram bred by the Derrynock Poll Dorset stud, Trentham East, and out of a Moora Hills ewe, 200236.

Linton said he had purchased a number of sheep from Derrynock in recent years.

"They've been breeding very well for us," he said.

Overall, the stud sold 60 rams from 77 offered for an average of $1052 and to the top price of $2100.

Linton said the stud ran 300 Poll Dorset breeders and aimed to present rams that were the "best of the best" for the annual sale.

"We basically heavy cull and we pull out the best rams," he said.

Linton said the Moora Hills rams were not overdone, and were runF under commercial conditions with little pampering.

He felt recent drought conditions had impacted this year's sale but looked forward to a recovery in 2026, in line with strong lamb prices.

"We had two very tough years here, this year and last year," he said.

Linton said many clients had reduced their ewe numbers during the dry and these could be slow to rebuild.

Despite this, he said it was still important to offer the stud's loyal clients plenty of choice when selecting rams.

"You've got to look after your core clients and you really have to look after your repeat buyers," he said.

Linton said he and his father aimed to breed Poll Dorsets which were easy care, born without problems and quick to grow.

He said the prime lamb job worked best when lambs could be turned off quickly.