$51,500 price tag for ram sold by Narrogin farmer Dawson Bradford

A WA-bred ram — designed to shed its wool rather than being shorn — has fetched an eye watering $51,500 at an on-farm sheep sale this week. Hillcroft Farms at Narrogin, which bred the self shedding “UltraWhite” sheep, sold its top ram for a record price to Perth businessman and property developer John Cranston. The sale marked the highest price paid for any WA ram in at least two decades. Hillcroft’s sale price was also the highest ever paid for a WA meat focussed breed of ram. Geoff Hillman, who manages Mr Cranston’s UltraWhite sheep stud Kingslane near Bunbury, will join the ram, along with another purchased this week for $15,000 and two bought last year from Hillcroft Farms, with around 350 ewes to produce breeding stock for other farms. “There is a strong interest in low maintenance, easy care sheep at the moment,” he said. Hillcroft Farms owner Dawson Bradford founded the UltraWhite breed in 2005 by mating Poll Dorset ewes with White Dorper rams, then selecting the best genetics from subsequent generations. “I was struck down by cancer at the time and needed to make life easier,” he said. “Wool production and related activities made up at least a quarter of the work load with sheep, including shearing, crutching, dagging, fly strike, lice control and mustering — all which can be eliminated if sheep shed their wool.” Although self shedding sheep breeds are not new, Mr Bradford said earlier lines were better suited to drier pastoral conditions. “There’s a big increase in demand for these type of sheep. I see a revolution in the whole sheep industry,” he said. “Currently there’s a perfect storm with a shortage of shearers. Farmers are very worried about getting their sheep shorn. If they can’t get sheep shorn this creates huge animal welfare issues. “Also at the back of people’s minds is what is the world going to be like when we come out of COVID. If there is a recession, wool won’t be in demand, but people will need to eat.” Despite moving away from wool, Mr Bradford expects there will always be a niche market for the fibre. Last month, a WA merino ram was sold by WA’s East Mundalla Stud for $51,000 — the second highest priced ram in 20 years. In 2001, $54,000 was paid for a Poll Merino ram from Willemenup stud. “Wool is a good product but not everybody wants it. I draw parallels to the silk worm industry back in 1920s and 1930s,” Mr Bradford said. “That was booming then but has been replaced, yet you can still buy silk. The wool industry will eventually become a niche market. There’s good money for good wools, but commodity wools are less viable.”