Interstate buyers show their faith in Corriedale breed at joint auction

A sire with great wool quality was knocked down to an interstate stud for the top price of $2000 at the SA Corriedale Feature Sale at Inman Valley on Tuesday.

Western Australia's only Corriedale stud - Inlet Views - is run by the WA College of Ag Denmark.

Inlet Views bought the top-priced $2000 ram from Graham and Di Jenke's Wattle Glen stud at Strathalbyn.

The May 2025-drop ram had a 25.9 micron fleece, weighed 97.5 kilograms and was shorn in March this year.

Mr Jenke said the school's stud had been buying from Wattle Glen for the past four years.

He was pleased by the amount of interstate interest at the sale.

"Our other major buyers were from Victoria," he said.

Mr Jenke chalked the interstate interest up to attending events like the Australian Sheep and Wool Show in Bendigo and Sheepvention in Hamilton, Vic.

He said he received a lot of positive feedback from clients on the quality of their wool.

One of these clients is Justin Weaver, Weaver Livestock, Balmoral, Vic.

Mr Weaver has been a long-time buyer at Wattle Glen and this year took home three rams to $1600, averaging $1333.

He said coming from an area with a lot of river flats, he needed hardy sires.

"Corriedales are the basis of my crossbred program," he said.

"I've definitely got a soft spot for them."

Mr Weaver said Wattle Glen genetics provided great wool quality, coupled with good carcases and strong mothering ability.

"I used to work in stud stock, and I haven't found better wool as far as Corriedales go, anywhere else," he said.

"That's why I keep coming back here."

Buying the top-priced Corriedale Hills sire from the Lush family at $1200 was Brian Kerr, Kurloch, Allendale East.

The twin-born ram with 22.8M fleece had ASBVs including a yearling greasy fleece weight of 14.88, post-weaning eye muscle depth of 0.21 and intramuscular fat of 0.21.

Mr Kerr has been buying from both the Lush and Jenke families for almost a decade.

This year, he bought two rams and two ewes from Corriedale Hills, and two ewes from Wattle Glen.

"I run about 700 Corriedale sheep at Allendale East, just as a commercial flock," he said.

Mr Kerr said he kept coming back to the studs on the back of their ram's hardiness and wool quality.

"I find them to be hardy rams that increase wool production no end," he said.

"I'm very happy with the wool cuts and quality I'm getting."

Mr Kerr said his family has been running Corriedales "basically forever".

"My family has farmed there for 130 years and for nearly 100 years we've been using Corriedales," he said.

"They're sheep that just grow out and do really well in our climate on the Limestone Coast."

All up, Wattle Glen sold 11 rams out of 18 offered for an average of $1200, along with two ewes at $600, while Corriedale Hills sold 13 rams from 61, averaging $784, as well as two ewes at $600.