Buyers with big orders ensure more than $700 sale average lift at Kelvale

Some big orders were key to the success of Kelvale Poll Merino stud's annual on-property ram sale at Keith with six repeat buyers taking home 75 per cent of the catalogue.

This ensured not only a strong clearance - with 16 more rams sold than 2025 but also a more than $700 jump in average.

In a fitting result for the stud which is celebrating 60 years, Stephen and Peta Kellock and their children Jess and Bradley, sold 128 May and June 2025 drops from 138 offered for a $2069 average.

Kelvale is among the nation's top Poll Merino flocks for staple length and this was evident in the sale rams, including lot 3 which sold for the $7000 highest price.

The 20.1 micron ram, Kelvale 251261, had impressive Merino Select figures ranking in the top five per cent for staple length ASBV at 23.

It was also top 5pc for both post weaning and yearling weight traits at 11.9 and 14.3 and top 20pc for both yearling clean fleece weight and breech wrinkle.

The successful buyers were the Williams family, Greenwood Park, Auburn who have been long time Kelvale clients.

They are pleased with the body shape and long stapled wools but were now focusing on adding a bit more wool cut.

Greenwood Park secured 15 rams for a $2873 average for their self-replacing Merino flock, including breeding some rams for their station, Mahanewo, on the edge of Lake Gairdner.

"We are getting a lot of lambs out of our ewes and we are still shearing twice a year so they are giving us plenty of wool, " Scott Williams said.

The charity ram- lot 10- which the Kellocks again donated the proceeds in to Stand Like Stone Foundation's Poppy Crozier Memorial Fund, made $5000.

For the second time in three years, the Lush family, Hyfield Pastoral, Coombe, dug deep to secure the ram and support the annual scholarship which was started in memory of the young local tragically killed in a road accident in 2023.

The scholarship's aim is to assist young people from the Limestone Coast with their tertiary studies relating to the agriculture sector.

Nicolai Farms, secured 23 rams for their Tresant property at Stewart Range.

In their sixth year buying at Kelvale, Luke Nicolai said they were seeing a continual improvement in their Merino flock.

"We are getting good lambing percentages, especially this year with one mob doing 161pc and they have good wool cuts, " he said.

Showing the adaptability of Kelvale's genetics there were also a couple of big pastoral orders and some heading to the Eyre Peninsula too.

MaryLou Bishop and Joe Verco, Quondong Station via Burra, took a while to open their account buying their first ram at lot 67. However they ended up being the sale's biggest bidder.

They bought 25 rams in the main auction to a $1800 high and another 10 rams in the mini auction.

Patrick Rowe, Almerta Station via Carrieton, took home 15 rams for a $840 average.

Mr Kellock was "over the moon" with the result.

"We like to be up around that $2000 average and to pass in 10 rams in is about where we need to be as well," he said.

"I thought with today's climate and there not being a lot of ewe hoggets around we might have passed a lot more in.

"Everyone is battling with ewe numbers, even on the crossbred end of it. We have to have more ewes so we have to breed them."

Mr Kellock said it was pleasing to have the rams presented in good condition this year and ready to go out and work after "being caught out last year" with a tough season.

"It is really good to keep the balance of figures coming through with good clean fleece weights along with staple length on an unmulesed sheep," he said.

"All those things they told us heritability wise we wouldn't be able to do we are really start to get going with, as well as muscle, fat and growth."

Nutrien stud stock's Richard Miller - who shared the auctioneering duties with Andrew Wilson - said the paddock run rams presented well, especially since they were born and raised in a drought.

"You could almost buy them with your eyes shut. if you were looking for long-stapled, free-growing wools with good carcase data and plenty of early growth they were all the way from lot 1 to 140," he said.

Mr Miller said the big lift in average was underpinned by two or three volume buyers who were happy to go at least $700 up on their 2025 average.

"There was strong competition on six or eight of their top end elite rams but to average that with no extreme tops was a good result," he said.

"The buyers are welded on here now, they know what they want and they are happy with the product."

Nutren Keith was the sole selling agent.