Volume buyers fuel full clearance for Kurralea sheep studs at Ariah Park

Larger-framed, well-structured rams were sought after at the 29th Kurralea Poll Dorset and White Suffolk ram sale at Ariah Park on Tuesday, September 29.

The Prentice family's stud achieved a full clearance of all 300 rams, for an overall average of $1749.

The 30 stud rams, which were also available for online bidding, reached a high of $10,500, up $500 from last year's top price, for a White Suffolk ram.

The White Suffolks averaged $3800 and the Poll Dorsets averaged $3643 and topped at $7000.

The 135 Poll Dorset flock rams averaged $1809 and 135 White Suffolk rams averaged $1261.

New clients Andrew, Anne and Harris Thompson, Venturon Livestock, Boyup Brook, Western Australia, paid the top price of $10,500 for Kurralea 304-25, a 15-month-old son of K038-23 and 060-23.

He had Australian sheep breeding values (ASBVs) of +0.3 for birthweight, +18.6 for post weaning weight +0.2 for rib fat and +2.1 for eye muscle depth with a Terminal Carcase Production (TCP) index of 149.

Harris Thompson said the stud had been losing bidders on Kurralea rams in previous sales.

The Thompsons run a stud flock of 400 White Suffolk ewes, alongside a Charollais sheep stud flock, and Angus and Murray Grey stud herds.

"I've been looking at him since July, when I first saw him on Facebook," Mr Thompson said.

"His type and structure really stood out to us - a beautiful big head with a big flat back.

"We've always appreciated the Kurralea sheep so it's nice to own a good one.

"We'll collect from him and use him in a few flush programs, and we'll AI (artificially inseminate) with him as well."

Three White Suffolk rams - Kurralea 315-25, Kurralea 135-25 and Kurralea 744-25 - each made $4000.

The Poll Dorset draft was topped by Kurralea 148-25, which sold for $7000 to James Corcoran, Gooramma stud, Galong.

He was a 15-month-old ram by G115-23 and from 146-23, with ASBVs of +0.6 for birthweight, +17.9 for post-weaning weight, +0.9 for fat and +2.4 for eye muscle, with a TCP index of 158.

"Ben's got a lot of rams there and when we're trying to get an outcross ram, he's got traits that are similar to ours," Mr Corcoran said.

"He was a Gooramma son with a bit of outside blood on the dam's line.

"He's a good, balanced ram that we can use within our flock."

Kurralea 247-25, a 15-month-old son of G912-23 and 335-22, sold for $6500, to Rick Foster, Haven Park, Wando Vale, in western Victoria.

He had ASBVs of +0.5 for birthweight, +18.5 for post-weaning weight, -0.4 for fat and +2.7 for eye muscle, with a TCP index of 156.

The sale's volume buyer in the Poll Dorsets was Australian Food and Agriculture, Hay, which bought 47 flock rams.

Long-time clients, the Cassidy family, Foylewood Farming, Ariah Park, bought 20 Poll Dorsets.

"I grow my lambs for the feeder market, trying to get them to 41kg liveweight, so we want small birthweight for ease of lambing and high weaning weight, so they grow quickly," Ben Cassidy said.

"The Kurralea rams are exceptionally good performers, with good longevity - we can get five or six good years out of them."

Damien Gaynor, Gaynor Farming, bought 49 rams.

Mr Gaynor is a long-time client who buys 40 to 50 Kurralea rams each year for his commercial Merino-based flock run across multiple properties at Ariah Park, West Wyalong and Tullibigeal.

"They're very good, fertile rams, with high lambing rates," he said.

"Their lambs put on weight quickly and develop quickly - we're producing a very fast maturing lamb, which helps in the sucker market."

Moroco Pastoral, Deniliquin, bought 12 White Suffolk rams; DB Ag, Ariah Park, purchased 11 White Suffolks; the Carruthers family, Tullibigeal, bought 11 White Suffolk rams; and Bell Agriculture, Ariah Park, took home 10 Poll Dorsets.

Kurralea stud principal Ben Prentice was pleased with the sale, particularly achieving a full clearance.

"We supply a large number of rams so we just hope we're able to sell them and for everyone to get the rams they're chasing," Mr Prentice said.

"We're known for our larger-framed rams, with bare, open points, and while some buyers use ASBVs, a lot are still focused on structure and type."

The sale was conducted by Elders and AWN, with Ryan Bejada, Elders, and Joe Wilks, AWN, auctioneering. It was interfaced with AuctionsPlus for the stud ram portion.