Day families raise the benchmark for SA terminal sire sales
The Day families defied lower ewe numbers, with their 54th annual ram sale at Bordertown a record grossing one of more than $900,000.
There was a full clearance of the stud and commercial Suffolks and Poll Dorsets from Allendale, and White Suffolks from Days Whiteface stud, with the averages, particularly of the flock rams, some of the highest seen for terminal sires in the SA ram selling season.
In their third year offering Days' White Baldies they continued to lift the average and numbers sold.
Allendale and Days Whiteface ram sale
Pictures by Catherine Miller
Overall Lachy and Lou along with Alastair, Jayne and Angus Day sold 347 of 354 stud and flock rams across multibreeds for a $2633 average.
In comparison in 2025, 335 of 356 rams from the two studs averaged $2019.
With 120 registered bidders, buyers were sitting shoulder to shoulder and there was also plenty of action on AuctionsPlus from all corners of Australia during the marathon sale.
Allendale is the nation's oldest Suffolk stud and after their recent domination of breed judging at the Royal Adelaide Show it was no surprise the Suffolk stud rams provided one of the sale highlights
These 15 rams sold to three states and averaged $5466.
The $15,000 high was paid by Richard Hill and his son Archer, She-Oak Lodge, Mount Hope, for Lot three, Allendale 251816.
Mr Hill said the winner of the June drop class in Adelaide was a "big, strong upstanding ram". It was sired by a homebred Allendale sire and out of one of the pick ewe lambs the Days bought at the Kerangie dispersal sale.
"He was very sound and very true to type and exactly what we require for continuation of the She-Oak Lodge stud, which has 29 years of Allendale blood," he said.
"In his figures I liked his weaning weight and his overall carcase Terminal Carcase Production Index."
Pushing them all the way on the sale topper were the Parker family, Tresma stud, Langkoop, Vic, who secured Lot 8 for $10,000.
The ram won the Lambplan class at Adelaide and the Bendigo Elite Show & Sale.
The sale high of $16,000 came at Lot 39 for an outstanding White Suffolk stud ram, Days 250206, sired by Warburn 220119.
The successful buyers of the medium-framed, easy doing ram were David and Bec Hurst and family, Lake Hawdon, Robe, along with David's brother in law and sister Paul and Shirley Tognetti, Nangarang stud, Grenfell, NSW.
Mr Hurst said they were looking for a high carcase ram to put over their White Suffolk ewes to breed their own rams.
These are put over their commercial Merino ewes to turn off export weight lambs.
The sale topper - which was a late June 2025 drop - had some impressive Lambplan figures including ranking in the top 5pc on intramuscular fat and top 10pc on shear force and fat.
Earlier in the White Suffolk stud rams at Lots 30 and 31, two sons of Farrer 230076 sold to MN and DF Blechynden, Southdale stud, WA, for $7000 and $9000.
Some of the day's best value buying were Allendale's 11 stud Poll Dorset rams which averaged $4500.
These topped at $8000 twice paid by Cameron Grundy, Grundy Pastoral Co, Lochaber, for Lot 18 and Tallageira Pastoral Co, Frances, who secured Lot 23.
The eye appealing ram which sold to Mr Grundy from Compass stud had an eye muscle depth of 4.1 - in the top 5pc of terminal sires.
"He was thick set and looks to be an early maturing Dorset which is what we are trying to achieve," he said.
"We often buy here at the Days because they have been in it for generations and have always got moderate stock that are structurally sound and that goes onto our flock rams."
Both $8000 rams had been used as ram lambs in the Allendale stud.
Buyers had plenty of confidence in Allendale Poll Dorsets where all 98 sold for a $2314 average.
They also bid up to $3800 for the best of the 125 White Suffolk flock rams from Days Whiteface stud which averaged $2288 in a total clearance.
Allendale stud's 45 Suffolk flock rams topped at $2800 ten times and averaged $2328.
Kinyerrie Partnership, Keith, was a top end buyer in two breeds with 20 White Suffolk and Suffolk rams for a $2620 average.
Donald Brown & Co, Keppoch, bought six White Suffolks and six Poll Dorsets averaging $2150 for all 12, while Willswood Farms, Bordertown, bought 11 rams from all three breeds for a $2818 average.
Thirty-eight of 45 White Baldies sold to a $4800 high and averaged $2278. Taking home the highest priced lot at 355 was Colrae Farms, Callington.
The volume buyer in the shedders was Gordon Last, Garvald Vale, Byaduk, Vic, who has bought from all three years offerings.
This time, he took home 13 rams for a $2492 average.
The Lasts who are running 9000 shedding ewes have chosen to buy from Days Whiteface and Chromedale for five years and then evaluate the genetics.
They are retaining all their twin born ewe lambs to improve the fertility of their shedding flock and are turning off 30kg carcase weight lambs finished in a feedlot.
"We didn't want our kids hanging off a handpiece like the past generations, we are not spending three weeks crutching or more than a month shearing and not chasing flies in our sheep," Mr Last said.
"The future of the sheep industry is either having Merinos or these shedding sheep - we just want to keep things simple."
Spence Dix & Co director Jono Spence - who was one of the auctioneers - said it was an "excellent result" and shows the confidence that buyers have in the Day families' breeding programs.
Lachy Day said it was the strongest sale ever of their White Suffolk flock rams.
He was also pleased with the progress they were making on the White Baldies with three new clients.
"The shedding will come but we are not going to do that at the expense of growth and carcase and fertility and structure, I was really proud how they stood up in those areas," he said.
Alastair Day noted that it was a record average on both their Poll Dorset and Suffolk flock ram offerings and said it was very humbling to have buyers come back year after year with many families having bought from them for decades.
"We were really happy that people were willing to pay good money and no one was concerned about it," he said.
Sharing the auctioneering duties were Nutrien stud stock's Gordon Wood and Elders' stud stock's Ross Milne.
