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Anderson stud sets WA record average price of $3961 per head for a single vendor

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Bob GarnantCountryman
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Third generation sheep innovater Lynley Anderson has embraced objective measurements and genetics all to the benefit of commercial Merino producers.
Camera IconThird generation sheep innovater Lynley Anderson has embraced objective measurements and genetics all to the benefit of commercial Merino producers. Credit: Countryman, Bob Garnant

The finesse of performance sheep breeding runs deep in the blood of the Anderson family, of Kojonup, who have found industry success across Australia in recent years.

They were absolutely thrilled to set a new WA record average price of $3961/head for a single vendor on-property auction last Wednesday, selling all 174 of their sale rams.

Anderson Rams studmaster Lynley Anderson said she was stunned with the sale’s massive success, achieving an increase of $1524/head on last year and setting a new benchmark standard.

“It was so nice to have great support of our breeding direction,” she said.

“I was really appreciative of the recognition from buyers who have returned on the success of their first rams from previous sales.”

First-time ram buyer and $26,000 top-price buyer Paul O’Connor, who trades as Oxton Park, in Harden, NSW, said he had full confidence in Lynley’s genuine advice.

“Our 10,500 commercial flock has been non-mulesed since 2008 and we selected our ram to continue selling our wool through an accredited integrity program that carries Responsible Wool Standard certification,” he said.

The $21,000 second top-priced ram sold to NSW stud Yarrawonga Plus, with its sheep classer, Damien Meaburn, very impressed with the Anderson Rams’ selections.

“The Phillips family, who own Yarrawonga, are starting their new Plus stud to give their clients an option if they want to run a similar type of sheep to what the Anderson family has achieved,” he said.

For Alan and Wendy Anderson, and their daughter, the sale was a benchmark moment after they embraced Sheep Genetics’ Merinoselect Australian Sheep Breeding Values from the start in 2003.

Alan and his father Athol were pioneers of objective measurement in the 1960s, selecting rams based on clean fleece weight, fibre diameter and body weight, at a time when selection by visual assessment was considered the norm.

When Lynley decided to return to the farm in 2004, after many years in nursing and being a midwife, she followed in Alan’s footsteps, embracing ASBVs to determine an animal’s true breeding value, based on pedigree and performance recordings.

“When I first started back at the farm, I asked many questions — can we do it better,” she said.

“Before we registered as a stud in 2018, we were using objective measurements to improve just our own commercial flock and we have not altered this approach since.”

Lynley said from that basis, they developed accurate breeding values.

“Our rams breed as their breeding values say they will — they have fast early growth, good carcase traits, plus are really productive, and carry soft and white wool,” she said.

“Worm resistance has always been a top priority, of which our stud has become renowned for.”

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