Buyers travel for three days to attend 13th Tattykeel Australian White sale
Buyers slept two nights on the road to get their hands on a Tattykeel Australian White ram, with the stud's 13th annual sale showing there's plenty of faith in the breed across the country.
Buyers from every state in Australia packed into the sale shed at the Gilmore family's stud keen to buy some coveted Tattykeel blood on September 23, with more than 100 buyers also bidding on AuctionsPlus.
The Black Springs sale was off to a red-hot start from the first lot, with lot 2, tag ET 250075, snapped up by Quartz Australian White stud, Forbes, for $22,000.
In all, 23 of the 24 stud rams sold to an average of $11,200, while 151 of the 197 flock rams sold to a top of $8000 and an average of $4060.
In the ewe portion, 38 of the 47 scanned-in-lamb (SIL) ewes sold to a top of $4000 four times and an average of $2513, while 20 stud ewes sold to a top of $2000 and an average of $1566.
Will Gordon, Quartz stud, was chuffed with the April-born, 127-kilogram ram, sired by 230894 and out of 220058.
Quartz stud, which has been running for the past six years, held its fourth annual sale last week with a full clearance and good average.
Mr Gordon said they had been coming to Tattykeel since 2020 to build up their ram battery.
"We've been coming over and replenishing with good Tattykeel genetics. We first ran some embryo transfer (ET) programs and built our ewe numbers up, and now we're buying rams to support our program and support our commercial clients," he said.
He said ET 250075 had a lovely shape, hindquarter and coat.
"We've found in our stud that the width across the loin and shape of the hind with that coat is really popular with our commercial producers. He has that in spades," Mr Gordon said.
"We will naturally join him for an April lambing. All our lambs are naturally joined moving forward. Those lambs will be sold in 2027 and beyond.
"We're pretty excited where he can take us going forward."
Buyers of two of the top-priced SIL ewes, Brian Linke and his son Michael Linke, were thrilled with their purchases - especially after they had travelled for three days to get to the sale from their Jembella Farm Australian White stud, Angaston, South Australia.
The Linkes bought ET 250032 and ET 250083 for $4000 apiece, which were both sired by Tattykeel 230703 and scanned to be carrying twins.
They also bought stud ewe 250886, sired by Tattykeel 201556.
Brian Linke was impressed with the ewes.
"I like their shape and their style. They are pretty well perfect as far as we're concerned," he said.
The Linkes started their stud 10 years ago after previously running a Merino flock.
"We were getting older and we wanted to keep sheep," he said.
"It was a no-brainer. There's no work with the Australian Whites and they are easy to work with."
When asked why he had travelled for three days to the sale, he replied: "Why not come and get the best?".
Tattykeel's Graham Gilmore was happy with the sale result.
"It was probably a buyers' market on some of the stud rams. The flock rams sold really well. There were a few left at the end - we normally put more up than what we think we can sell, so that keeps that price at a sensible level," Mr Gilmore said.
"The ewes sold fairly well. We weren't expecting any more than what we've come out with, so we're really happy with it."
Mr Gilmore is thrilled with the direction the Australian White is heading, both in Australia and across the globe.
"The Australian White is a proper shedding sheep that can be run easy-care," he said.
"We are working around our branded Margra product. It's in a huge number of top-end restaurants in Hong Kong, Singapore, Los Angeles, New York, Dallas, Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane. We know we have an amazing product."
Mr Gilmore said Tattykeel had reached another milestone with the Omega-3 content in the lamb.
"We've been selecting for eating quality. What we're calling eating quality is low fat melting point and high Omega-3, which are EPA and DHA Omegas," he said.
"To reach source levels, you need 30 milligrams per 100 grams. When people eat fish or take fish oil tablets, they receive EPA and DHA Omega-3s. We have reached source levels in all of our sheep, through selective line-breeding.
"That's pretty exciting - I'm not aware of any red meat in the world that has reached Omega-3 source levels."
He said the shedding sheep industry was still growing.
"It's only going to grow. It's finding its ground," he said.
"There are plenty of other options in the shedding sheep industry that probably weren't there before. People are promoting it in different ways, and that's all good. This is just what we are doing."
Tattykeel once again showed its support for Spinal Cord Injuries Australia, donating the proceeds from the sale of flock ram, 250028 Tattykeel Inspiration, to the cause.
Inspiration made $6000 in the sale ring, which will assist the peer and family support team in the Central West.
The sale was conducted by Elders and QPL Rural, with guest auctioneer Miles Pfitzner taking the bids.
