Top price of $3500 achieved twice at 2024 Challara Poll Merino Stud sale

The 2024 Challara Poll Merino Stud ram sale had good support from local and repeat buyers, with a total of 72 rams sold under the hammer for an average of $1135 and a top price of $3500. The top price was achieved twice during the sale, first for lot No.16, a July-drop ram with a yield score of 59.8, EMD of 37, PWWT of 10.23, YCFW of 23.48, YSL of 10.76 with a Micron of 20.2. Top-price bidder Murray Kowald, of Mogumber, said he picked the ram because of its wool credentials and was at the sale to buy rams which would increase their flock’s fleece weight and achieve high yearling weights. “The (top-priced) ram’s wool is really bright with a well-defined crimp and a great clean fleece weight,” Mr Kowald said. He said finding rams with Australian sheep breeding values that would improve the overall balance in their flock was also important. The Kowalds recently sold and moved from their family farm at Canna, east of Geraldton, after the devastation of cyclone Seroja in 2021. Mr Kowald with his family, including son Noah, were farming a smaller property in Mogumber now, which had required transitioning to a smaller breeding herd of commercial Merino sheep to suit the country. “In the last 12 months we have reduced our Merino breeding ewe flock to 600-head,” he said. “We have gone from farming 15,000ha in Canna to 3000ha in Mogumber.” Mr Kowald said he had been involved in farming for 41 years and had always had a fascination with sheep. For the past two years, he has also been working off-farm for Challarra stud principal Peter Wilkinson, and has been inspired by seeing the genetic gains being made within the stud. He said spending money on good-quality genetics paid off by speeding up the breeding process and lifting the quality of the flock faster. The Kowalds also bought a second ram for $2700, lot No.26, which had a yield score of 63.3, EMD of 35, PWWT of 5.42, YCFW of 27.15, YSL of 14.61 and Micron score of 21.8. The second $3500 equal top-priced ram sold to Birrawong, with Elders livestock agent Greg Wootton buying on their behalf. Mr Wootton said Birrawong, in north Badgingarra, had been sourcing Challara Poll Merino genetics for eight years and it was the ability of Challara rams to outperform others in the paddock that kept them coming back. “He (the top-priced ram) is a really well-balanced ram with very even genetic growth traits,” Mr Wootton said. The lot No.17 ram had a yield of 74.1, EMD of 38, PWWT of 8.38, YCFW of 30.28, YSL of 17.73 and Micron of 21.3. Mr Wootton said the quality of wool across the Challara ram offering was high and would cut well-aligned white wools. He said the lot No.17 equal top-priced ram would go on to be used at Birrawong (which runs a total of 4000 breeders including a cross-breed operation) in a self-replacing Merino flock. Birrawong also bought the second-top-priced ram, lot No.18, for $3400, with the animal recording a yield of 64.4, an EMD of 37, PWWT of 9.16, YCFW of 20.37, YSL of 18.55 and Micron of 21.2. This year’s volume buyer of rams was Frank Clune from Newmarracarra Coy in Bringo, 25km east of Geraldton, who bought a total of 17 rams for an average price of $694 each. Mr Clune said he had been buying rams from Challara for 12 years and was looking for long, bright wool with good frames. “I look through the figures at home and then when I come to the sale, I assess the rams visually and look at wool weight and YCFW in particular,” he said. Mr Clune runs a total of 5000 ewes, with 1800 put to Poll Dorsets and the remainder Merinos. Mr Wilkinson said overall he was happy with the sale results, but the absence of stud classer Bill Walker was felt this year. “Feed conditions are quite tight in parts of South Australia and the east coast, and this has had a flow-on effect here,” Mr Wilkinson said. “I’m confident in the sheep industry, though, and it is strong in SA and the east coast despite trying conditions.” Mr Wilkinson said this year’s rams had performed very well overall, with the ongoing improvement in accuracy of Challara’s genetics adding to the improvement of the stud’s ability to produce resilient sheep in the paddock that were best suited to meet current market conditions. He said the Merino Lamb Index was proving an important part of the progress Challara was making in producing quality rams, and he encouraged more prospective buyers from further afield to look at the genetic merit of what was available at Challara. Mr Wilkinson stressed the importance of accuracy when it came to ASBV figures, saying over time the stud had learnt how best to apply and use ASBV data. “Since we have incorporated DNA testing it has really strengthened the accuracy of our figures,” he said. “I was hesitant with ASBV figures when they had a very low accuracy, but by using DNA testing, this has strengthened the information we have available.” Mr Wilkinson said this was reflected in how much improvement he had seen in the stud over the past 10 years. He said Challara rams were true dual-purpose, easy-care sheep which suited the environmental conditions of many areas of WA’s sheep-producing regions. Coming from a commercial grower perspective, he said the genetic value of Challara rams should not be overlooked. “The industry demands studs produce high-fertility sheep that are good shearing sheep, produce high wool quality, that have high wool cutting and are easy-care animals,” Mr Wilkinson said. “With the high cost of shearing, if we want to look after our shearers better, this means producing better combing sheep. “We are ticking all the boxes when it comes to the traits commercial growers are looking for.” Mr Wilkinson said he was pleased to see some new clients at this year’s sale, and hoped more sheep producers would consider the benefits of using Challara genetics in their production systems. Elders auctioneer Jay MacDonald said the sale had gone as well as expected, with a few less buyers than in previous years, but the better end of the rams offered had sold well. Challara Poll Merino Stud Ram Sale Offered: 83 Sold: 72 Top price: $3500 Average: $1135