Clearance rose at the Gunallo on-property sale at Panitya, Vic, where 116 of 120 Poll Merino rams sold.
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The Schroeder family had their Poll Merinos please their buyers, with 116 of the 120 offered, sold to a strong top price of $6400 at their annual Gunallo on-property sale in Panitya, Vic, on Thursday.
The Schroeder family reached a top price of $6400 an an average price of $2147, with the clearance up from last year when 110 of the 120 rams on offer sold to a top of $9500 at an average price of $2676.
The top price ram in Lot 8 was bought by PPHS livestock sales consultant Paul Kinnaird on behalf of his client, Greg Pickering, Bendigo, Vic, with the Gunallo 228 ram having recorded a fleece of 19 micron, comfort factor of 99.7 per cent and Australian Sheep breeding Values of 8.86 for yearling weight, 0.30 yearling eye muscle depth and a Dual-Purpose-plus Index of 163.12.
In his first occasion buying at the Gunallo sale, Mr Pickering bought two rams in total, including the Lot 46 ram for $3000, with a sale average of $4700.
Mr Kinnaird said Mr Pickering was keen to get dual-purpose rams, with good carcase traits and beautiful crimpy wool, which was displayed by the two rams he bought.
"Greg's got a Dohne operation, so these rams are to put that dual-purpose wool and carcase traits back into the system," Mr Kinnard said.
Volume buyers on the day included Blairgowie Trust, Willaura, Vic, which bought 21 in the main sale to a top of $2600 at an average of $1466.
Longtrail Farms, Parilla, bought eight to a top of $2200 for an average of $1625 while Hyde Brothers, Pinnaroo, bought eight to a top of $5000 for an average of $3350.
Lynden Brewis, Blairgowie Trust, said the growth rate and staple length of the rams was a particularly notable feature of the rams.
Mr Brewis said, after attending the Gunallo sale for eight years, he was keen to return in the future.
"The rams keep doing the job for us and we're happy with what they're doing for our flock and they keep performing," he said.
Stud principal Brad Schroeder said he was happy with how strong the sale was and the fact there were new buyers, along with some regular faces from the local area and interstate.
"We're always looking to move the sheep forward in whichever the profitability there is," he said.
"Wool quality's a big thing for our stud and the structures and we work towards strong yearling fat and eye muscles."
Mr Schroeder said eight of his rams would be offered at the Classings Classic sale at Murray Bridge and two would be on offer at the Adelaide ram sale.
Nutrien auctioneer Gordon Wood said the sale breakdown was a really good result, with an impressive clearance.
"It was a really good result and there were many returning buyers, especially some of the volume buyers, like Blairgowrie," he said.
"Gunallo have always been known for fast early growth and a big carcase framed rams, with really long slick stapled wool.
"Probably what stood out to me were the sons of the Mernowie 1080 rams, as I think all of those sons in the sale had a positive yearling eye muscle depth."
The auction was conducted by Nutrien and the auctioneers were Gordon Wood and Richard Miller.
