Sundermanns close Poll Dorset chapter with strong final ram sale result
Pictures by Bryce Eishold
The Sundermann family has closed a monumental chapter after holding their final on-property ram sale.
Pinora Poll Dorset stud, Dawson, recorded a total clearance of 72 rams in a swift 25-minute sale, with the 1.5-year-old rams averaging $1592 and hitting a top price of $2600.
Brothers John and Kelvin Sundermann revealed earlier this month they would officially draw the curtain on their long-running sheep enterprise, telling Stock & Land they would wind down the operation before placing the 730-hectare property on the market in the coming years.
"I started to get a bit emotional at the start of the sale to tell you the truth," Kelvin said after the 20th and final sale.
"I think that's when it sunk in that this was our final sale and the last time we would sell sheep."
Several buyers who purchased rams at the inaugural sale in 2006 were penside to witness and buy rams at the final sale.
Commercial lamb producers across East, West and South Gippsland were among the main buyers.
The top-priced ram, Lot 2, tag 139, was a June 2025-drop ram that weighed 114 kilograms.
The ram was purchased by Nutrien East Gippsland Livestock agent Billy Trinder, Bairnsdale, for a buyer in the Bairnsdale district who wished to remain anonymous.
The ram's Primescan measurements included a fat depth of 7.8 millimetres, an eye muscle depth of 45mm and eye muscle area of 39 square centimetres.
Mr Trinder said the ram, sired by Pinora 301/22, would be joined to a small, private unregistered Poll Dorset stud, crediting his balanced figures and bloodlines for the selection.
Among the volume buyers at the sale were brothers Barry and Geoff Cameron, Buchan South, who purchased eight rams between them.
Barry bought four rams to a top price of $2200, while Geoff - the long-term manager of Chris and Mary Wheeler's operation at Buchan South - purchased four rams to a top price of $1600.
Lauren Schmidt, Pipe Grange Pastoral, Glengarry, bought four rams to a top price of $2200 for Lot 10, while Robert Anton, A & P Anton & Son, Toongabbie, bought five rams to a top of $2200 for Lot 19.
Nutrien South Gippsland Livestock manager Brian McCormack, Leongatha, was another active buyer at the sale, purchasing 24 rams for several clients in the Thorpdale area.
His clients included grandfather and grandson Frank and Matt Powell, Thorpdale, who bought nine rams to a top price of $1600, and David Blackshaw, Thorpdale, who bought four rams to a top price of $1400.
Mr McCormack also bought six rams to a top price of $1600 for Ron Hobson, Thorpdale.
Another volume buyer was Jason Morrison, Dutson, who acted on behalf of his uncles, Ian and Darryl Baird, Hopfields Pty Ltd, Dutson, who bought 12 rams to a top price of $2000 for Lot 14.
Richard Fawaz, R & D Fawaz, Heyfield, bought four rams to a top price of $1800, while Andrew and Alison Missen, AR & AJ Missen, Woodside, bought three rams to a top price of $2200.
R.G. Livestock agent Ian Baker, who has worked with the Sundermann family since their first sale, said he was "extremely sad" to see the stud come to an end.
"Kelvin and John have been really good to me - especially when I fell ill about 18 months ago - they couldn't have been better support," Mr Baker said.
"Some of my clients who I thought would have helped me were nowhere to be seen, but John and Kelvin were just fantastic and great country people and made sure I was a part of their sale even when I was sick."
In August 2024, the Sundermann brothers revealed they would close their Angus stud after 77 years, and held their final bull sale in March last year.
The Sundermann brothers sold a flock of 200 Poll Dorset ewes and five stud rams to emerging Tostaree breeders Ryan Geddes and Jackie Nethercote in April.
The couple, who own Tarcoola Poll Dorset stud, plan to continue the Pinora legacy, using the ewes as a breeding base for their seedstock operation after announcing they would hold a sale in Sale next year.
