Strong bidding at Anden drives high UltraWhite and White Suffolk interest

A north-west Victorian farming family has recorded a 91 per cent clearance rate at their White Suffolk and UltraWhite ram sale, selling their top-priced rams to stud and commercial operators across NSW and South Australia.

The Donnan family, Anden stud, Willangie, sold 207 of 227 White Suffolk and UltraWhite rams on Thursday.

Anden stud principal Joel Donnan said the sale was underpinned by return clients who had witnessed firsthand the benefits of Anden genetics in their operations.

"We've had a really good season, livestock and cropping prices are strong and the result of our sale followed suit," Mr Donnan said.

"We are really honing in on growth and muscle in our sheep and ease of lambing whilst trying to breed the most efficient and profitable animals we can."

Mr Donnan runs the mixed-farming operation across 4050 hectares with wife Lauren, parents Andrew and Denita and his younger brother Trent and his partner Brigette.

The family's sheep stud comprises 800-1000 stud ewes, which are run alongside 2000-5000 commercial sheep.

Of the 107 White Suffolk rams offered, 93 sold to a top price of $10,000 and an average of $2182, while all 114 UltraWhite rams sold to a top price of $9500 and an average of $3568.

The top-priced White Suffolk, Lot 3, Anden 250235, was a June 2025-drop ram described as a standout future sire.

Mr Donnan said the ram was used as a ram lamb in the stud last year and was backed by a combination of good data and physical structure.

His Australian Sheep Breeding Values (ASBVs) included 18.8 kilograms post-weaning weight and a post-weaning eye muscle depth of 3.8, while he was in the top 20 per cent of the breed for intramuscular fat, lambing ease and dressing percentage.

The ram was sired by Anden 240043 and out of a Waratah ewe, 200503, the second-top priced female purchased at the Waratah dispersal sale in 2022.

It was purchased by Paul and Dalles Routley, Almondvale stud, Urana, NSW, who have used Anden genetics for more than 20 years.

"The rams were all very good, but he was just an extremely square and correct ram with a great topline, as well as being very meaty and balanced in his dataset," Mr Routley said.

"We run 1000 stud White Suffolk ewes so he will be joined at the end of January to some of our top ewes to breed both stud and commercial rams."

The top-priced buyers of the $9500 UltraWhite ram, Lot 118, Anden 251271, were brothers Leroy and Rohan Hull, Kattata Well White Suffolk and UltraWhite stud, Mount Cooper, SA.

Leroy, who attended the sale with his wife Kelsey and three children, set a new national breed record in 2016 when his family paid $68,000 for an Anden White Suffolk ram.

"We just like the make of their sheep ... they have nice muscling and length and they are really good-doing sheep," he said.

"We bought an UltraWhite two years ago but he has since died so we wanted to replace him in our stud because of how well his lambs did.

"We also picked up this ram because he is clean shedding and good on his feet."

Leroy, who also bought a White Suffolk ram for $7500, said the rams would be joined to their respective ewe breed bases in January.

Shane and Tiffany Rees, Shane Rees Pastoral, Ivanhoe, NSW, bought 18 UltraWhite rams to a top price of $9500 for Lot 134, Anden 251237.

"We went there last year for the first time and bought four so obviously this year we went a bit harder," Mr Rees said.

"We're in a transition from South African Meat Merinos into Dorpers and we are trialling UltraWhites over the Dorpers to see how they perform."

The Rees' neighbours, Ryan Harris and Courtney Biggs, Manfred Station Pty Ltd, Ivanhoe, bought 12 UltraWhite rams to a top price of $7000.

Another pair of volume buyers was father and son Greg and Brad Rae, Kyalite, NSW, who bought 11 UltraWhite rams to a top price of $6500, averaging $3820.

Seamus and Georgina O'Halloran, Rainbow, bought 10 White Suffolk rams to a top price of $2000, averaging $1525.

Mr O'Halloran, who runs a mixed-farming cropping and sheep operation, said the White Suffolk rams would be joined to a flock of Merino ewes in December.

"We are chasing rams with high-quality data and a big percentage of the White Suffolk rams had really high lambing ease figures so that's one of the reasons we bought the number of rams we did," he said.

"We join a lot of young ewes, so they have to be suitable for maiden joinings and that's why we look for lambing-ease traits in rams that still have good growth and carcase characteristics."

Elders stud stock manager for Victoria and the Riverina Ross Milne said the sale recorded an impressive clearance across both breeds.

"The Donnans are breeding good, commercially relevant shedding sheep and they have bred sheep for a long time," Mr Milne said.

"Their UltraWhite program has made a rapid progression over a short period of time and their sheep are structurally sound and backed up by good ASBVs."