Strong faith in Border Leicester breed shown at Paxton stud's improved sale
Paxton Border Leicester stud's ninth annual ram sale was a far cry from last year's disappointing clearance, with buyers far more optimistic about the season and lamb and breeding ewe prices this year.
In one of their best sales, Martin and Kirsty Harvey and their children Will, Lilly and Zoe sold 139 of 140 rams for a $1902 average.
More than twice as many rams were sold compared to 2024 and the average was up a massive $607.
The first eight lots were sold individually in the ring, including the lot 3, $5500 sale topper.
Spence Dix & Co auctioneer Jono Spence was full of praise for the Inverbrackie 21069 son for its "quality, soundness and true Border Leicester type",
Several bidders agreed, with fast-paced bidding from $2000 until the knockdown price.
The buyers were Craig Graham and Deb Stone, Glencorrie stud, Sandilands and Parndana, who also bought Paxton's 2024 sale topper for $4000.
They were keen to reinvest after their own very successful ram sale last month and identified the twin born ram as a stand out for his "doing ability, width and depth of body."
"He has a positive eye muscle and fat figure, which is what we are looking for," Mr Graham said.
"We have got pretty high post-weaning weights in our sheep, so we will use him as a cross to add to our carcase."
The lot 3 ram had an impressive set of figures, including a Border Leicester cross index of 140.69, post weaning weight of 10.63 and eye muscle depth of 0.6.
The remainder of the catalogue was sold pick of the pair with buyers often taking both rams in the first knock down, making for a quick sale.
The biggest buyer was Zac and Katrina Auricht who have been buying a few rams from Paxton for a long time but have switched to focus on breeding first cross lambs. They bought 26 rams to a $2800 high twice for a $1765 average.
Noted first cross ewe lamb sellers JJA&RLV Boddington, Binnum, secured 14 rams for a $1843 average, while Dolling Produce, Keppoch, bought 12 rams for a $1617 average.
Despite the strength of the top end there were still 22 rams sold at the $1000 base price.
Mr Harvey said it was terrific to have such a great clearance rate, but he was even more pleased with the faith his clients continue to show in the Border Leicester breed.
"There is a lot of competition and talk of composites, but I still firmly believe that the first cross ewe is the best dam for producing prime lambs," he said.
"The sale showed it is not just talk, there are enough people that still believe in the Border having a great position in the industry."
Mr Harvey said it was their most even line-up and appreciated the great feedback on their sheep.
"We culled pretty hard after last year and I am pleased we did because we had a lot of comments about how even the lineup was, and we saw the sale stay pretty strong," he said.
He said they were fully committed to the breed and shared that the previous day they had bought the second-highest-ranking ram in Australia on the maternal carcase production index.
The $17,000 ram was bought at Inverbrackie stud's sale in partnership with Castle Camps stud, Keith and Womboota stud, Womboota, NSW.
"We are really trying to get our Border type right - we love the frame and thickness in the Glencorrie rams we have bought and Inverbrackie has the data and thickness," Mr Harvey said.
"We have to remember that half of these are wethers and get killed within six months - I think that is why we are having successful sales because we are really focused on our carcase."
PPHS Naracoorte conducted the sale with Josh Manser the other auctioneer.
