The Haddon Rig team would like to thank all of our loyal clients who showed up to our 40th On-Property Sale yesterday. A total of 215 rams sold for an average of $2451. Poll Merino Lots 1-5 sold for an average of $8400.

We were pleased to see lots of new faces, with clients buying from South Australia, the Central West, Southern and Northern NSW.

We had a top sale price of $10,000 which we received twice for two Poll rams.

Lot 2 HRP 221280 (AI) PP sold to Scott, Jenny and Angus Carrigan at Tyrone, Guerlie.

Lot 5 sold to Bernadette and Geoff Davison of Moorundie Poll Merino Stud in South Australia.

The top-priced Horned ram was Lot 6, HRP 220446 (AI) sold to John Wheaton at Boorooma Merino Stud, Walgett.

Lot 2 is a big 19.9 micron, long-bodied poll sire with depth of body maintaining a straight top line. He stands square and proud with a meat producing back-end topped off with a quality medium wool. He had a BWT of 118 kg, a PWWT of 9.9, a YWT of 10.6 and a YFAT and DP + 167.6.

Lot 5 HRP 220358 (ET) PP has a well-shaped behind, carrying a sire’s wool with perfect nourishment. He has a micron of 19.8 and 99.1 comfort factor (CF). He has wool cutting ability with a Yearling Clean Fleece Weight (YCFW) of 30. His full ET brother has been kept as a Stud Sire. Lot 5 had a body weight of 110 kg, a PWWT of 2.7, a YWT of 3.5, and an MP + of 159.8.

Lot 6 had a soft pure 18.8-micron wool, a strong masculine head with a good horn set. He is a very plain ram but still well covered and has an excellent side. With a YFAT of -0.1, and a PWWT of 5.4, BWT of 117kg and a CF of 99.6.

Given the market, this was an excellent sale. Many of our clients have had very little rain and are feeling the strain of the current meat and wool markets. The overwhelming feedback was that there was vast opportunity across the line-up to pick up excellent value, with quality, consistent rams right to the end.

We are excited to continue developing balanced, well-rounded Merinos and Poll Merinos, focussed on profitability and ongoing performance. With strong muscle and fat traits, heavy-cutting, high-quality wool and competitive ASBVs for carcase (YEMD, YFAT), growth (YWT and PWWT), wool cut and quality (YCFW), and overall indexes (MP+ and DP+). Balance is our priority, whilst maintaining doing-ability and structural correctness.

There was something for everyone yesterday, with a few non-mules clients selecting rams that would work within their program. Every year, we ensure a selection of non-mules type rams in our auction, to satisfy those clients looking for that. Our Breech and Wrinkle scoring, which we’ve been doing for over 10 years is key to this.

We’d like to congratulate Andy McLeod, Jim Coward and Forbes Murdoch on their 40th year of HR Sales. Their loyalty, dedication and hard work is second to none and we’d like to express our appreciation.

To celebrate the 40th Anniversary, Anna and Caroline Coward cooked a beautiful celebratory cake, which was enjoyed by the entire sale after the Auction.

Thank you again to all clients who came to the sale. We appreciate your support.