Clearance up as loyal buyers back Castle Camps' two-breed ram sale
Thirteen may be an unlucky number for some, but definitely not Castle Camps stud principals Ian and Sue Carr from Keith with their 13th annual ram sale one of the best they have had clearance wise.
They notched up a full clearance of 80 White Suffolk rams for a $1366 average - up nearly $200 on 2025's sale, while 45 of 68 Border Leicesters averaged $942.
This was more than 2025 when 18 maternal sires sold of 38 put through the ring.
The sale high this year was $2100 paid by Joe Cook, Scottswell Partners, Keith, for Lot 6.
The Felix 211239 son had a Terminal Carcase Production index in the top 10pc of terminal sires at 153.25 and ranked in the top 20pc with an eye muscle ASBV of 3.24.
The June 2025-drop was one of 12 rams bought by Scottswell Partners.
R&L Lambert, Keith, secured 15 White Suffolk rams.
The Harvey family, Inva Loch, Strathdownie, Vic, paid $1700 for the highest-priced Border Leicester ram in 2025. They were shopped at the top again and extended their budget to $2000 this year for Lot 81.
Mr Carr said they had considered retaining the ram which had a Border Leicester Cross Index of 153.31.
The August 2025-drop was by homebred sire CC233710.
Platinum Livestock, Clare, was the volume Border Leicester buyer putting together 21 rams.
Mr Carr said it was pleasing to have so many repeat clients along with a few new buyers and have a total clearance on the White Suffolks for the first time in three years.
"It is a good average to make a living out of, but it is not going to frighten people off," he said.
"This support gives us confidence that our breeding program is heading in the right direction."
Mr Carr was pleased how the rams presented after a wet winter and said was great to receive feedback from clients that the depth in their White Suffolk offering were as good as they had seen.
"We had to make a few replacements and we had no trouble finding them in what was not in the sale," he said.
Mr Carr was also pleased to get through the whole Border Leicester offering without stopping the auction early, which has occurred some years.
"We just needed another couple of buyers, but those here were still picking out rams they liked right until the end," he said.
"A couple of people are still working out how many Merino ewes they will have to mate depending on prices."
He said it was good to be able to cater for a range of budgets from a $800 base price, but noticed that there was buyer resistance when bidding neared $2000.
"While we are getting some really good money for lambs, the costs are there like diesel at $3 a litre and some blokes have come off a couple of pretty ordinary years and spent a lot of money feeding livestock," Mr Carr said.
Platinum Livestock and Miller Whan & John were joint selling agents, with SAL's Matt MacDonald and Josh Pahl sharing the auctioneering duties.
