Strong wool market underpins Avenel Merinos 48th annual ram sale

High wool prices injected plenty of confidence into the Avenel Merinos ram sale, held on-property at Wanganella on Friday, September 18.

The first lot of the sale commanded the highest price, selling for $9500 to long-term repeat buyers JD and GC Carlson, Euroa, Victoria.

Avenel 5M5005 was 17.2 micron with 3.0 micron standard deviation (SD), 17.6 per cent coefficient of variation (CV) and 99.1pc comfort factor (CF), along with a clean fleece weight percentage of 103pc.

The 113.5 kilogram Poll Merino ram had Australian Sheep Breeding Values (ASBVs) in the top 5pc for yearling fibre diameter (YFD) with a figure of -2.0.

Buyer Greg Carlson said he "couldn't fault" the ram.

"He's the best sheep I have ever bought," he said.

Mr Carlson runs a small self-replacing Merino flock, breeding their own first-cross ewes and producing fat lambs, with 1000 ewes all together.

"We have an emphasis on comfort factor and softness," he said.

"We can get a lot of rain, 24 to 28 inches (390 millimetres to 460mm), so they have to have plenty of length of staple. We shear our ewes every eight months."

Mr Carlson said the adult ewes cut an average of 18.5 micron.

He said his family had been buying from Avenel for more than 35 years, usually opting for towards the top-end of the draft.

"The wool prices are good so it is worth investing in genetics and keep the genetics in the flock up," he said.

Mr Carlson also purchased Avenel 5P5025 for $5500.

The 88.5kg Poll Merino ram was 18.3 micron with 3.3SD, 17.9CV, 99.6pc CF and 123pc CFW.

He ranked in the top 5pc on the wool production and fine wool indexes with figures of +185 and +182 respectively.

The ram also ranked in the top 10pc for yearling clean fleece weight (YCFW) with a figure of +35.5 and on the Sustainable Merino Index at +147.

Avenel's Colin McCrabb said the top-priced ram had a big frame and had well-nourished wool, which would suit the client's high rainfall area well.

A special feature of the sale was lot 10, named Ken in honour of the late Ken McCrabb who passed away in December 2025.

Mr McCrabb said it was a ram his father would have admired.

"He's a horned ram, which we thought was fitting and appropriate and personifies what dad was after in a ram," he said.

"He's quite open in the horns, he's well-structured and very pure in the wool."

Avenel DS5083 was a Merino that sold for $3500 to long-term repeat buyers Graham and Debbie Mott, Yerong Creek.

The 80kg-ram was 17.6 micron with 3.2SD, 16CV, 99.3pc CF and 101pc CFW.

The Motts bought a total of eight rams to average $4937.

Their draft included the top-priced horned Merino, Avenel C5047, which sold for $6000.

The ram, 93.5kg, was 18.2 micron with 2.9SD, 16.0CV, 99.6pc CF and 103pc CFW.

The Motts also bought the second top-priced Poll Merino ram, Avenel OS5026, which sold for $7000.

The 94.5kg ram was 18.6 micron with 3.2SD, 17.1CV, 99.3CF and 112pc CFW.

Volume buyers included Eromunga Trust, Moulamein, which bought 18 rams to average $1750.

Newfield Farming, Rennie, took home 10 rams to average $2500.

NB and DA Allen, Mitiamo, Vic, selected nine rams to average $3611.

Neil Allen said they were focusing on the Poll Merinos, opting for rams with long bright wool, good bodies and good feet.

He runs a self-replacing flock of about 1800 Merino ewes with the wether lambs run through the feedlot and turned off at about 10 months while the ewe flock cuts an average 19 micron wool.

Mr Allen said they had been buying from Avenel since about 1983 with the rams performing well for them.

SJ and JE Bunyan, Cookardinia, bought eight rams for an average of $2464.

Stephen Bunyan said they were chasing rams with finer soft-handling wools, with more open fleeces to suit their higher rainfall climate.

"We have needed to become more selective with our rams," he said.

Mr Bunyan said they run about 1200 Merino ewes and join most to Merinos and some to terminal rams.

They cut an average of 18-micron wool and had been buying rams from Avenel for a few years.

At the fall of the hammer, 85 of 96 Poll Merino and Merino rams sold to a top of $9500 to average $2791.

Mr McCrabb said it was a strong sale in the top end of the rams, with strong support from repeat buyers, as well as some new clients.

"There's good positivity in the wool market and the whole Merino industry and that was reflected in the prices for the top end of the rams," he said.

Mr McCrabb said buyers were chasing rams with good pure, heavy-cutting wool, along with good frames.

The sale was conducted by AWN and Elders, with Greg Miller, AWN, and Ross Milne, Elders, sharing the rostrum.