Lamb producers looking for the renowned Kurralea type of ram for their operations ensured another successful sale at the Ariah Park stud recently.
The Prentice family offered and sold 300 Poll Dorset and White Suffolk rams at their 29th annual ram sale on Tuesday September 29.
The total line-up averaged $1749, which was on par with the 2025 result in terms of average and clearance.
Ben said a total clearance was always a good achievement, especially given current ewe flock numbers.
“Even though things had been pretty good in most parts, I knew in the lead up that there were a number of clients still down on ewe numbers, so it was not just a given that everyone was going to buy a heap of rams – they just haven’t got the ewes back yet,” he said.
“But generally lamb producers are wrapped with how things are going in terms of the season and prices – you would be pretty hard to please if you weren’t.”
There were 15 stud rams of each breed sold, topping at $10,500 for White Suffolks, which averaged $3800, while Poll Dorsets topped at $7000 and averaged $3643.
West Australian stud Venturon Livestock, run by Andrew, Anne and Harris Thompson at Boyup Brook, purchased the sale-topping White Suffolk ram Kurralea 304-25.
It was the first time Venturon had purchased at Kurralea, and Ben said the ram was “one of the better White Suffolk rams we’ve sold”.
Kurralea had considered keeping the sire for most of the year, however having also retained its sire – Kurralea 038-23 – they put him on the market.
The June 2025-drop ram had Post Weaning Weight (PWWT) and Intramuscular Fat (IMF) Australian Sheep Breeding Values in the top 20% of the breed, with an Terminal Carcase Production Index of 149.
In the stud Poll Dorset offering, it was lot 3 Kurralea 148-25 which attracted the highest bid, purchased by the Corcoran family of Gooramma stud at Galong, NSW.
That ram has some impressive growth ASBVs and a top 20% TCP of 158, and was sired by Gooramma 115-23, a ram purchased by Kurralea for $22,000 in partnership with Mallee Park and Sunnybanks stud.
Ben said their commercial clients were looking for the traditional Kurralea type of ram with a bigger frame and bare points, and they found them in swaiths.
Australian Food and Agriculture picked up 41 Poll Dorset and 6 White Suffolk rams for their Hay aggregation of properties, while Foylewood Farming at Ariah Park also purchased in volume, picking up 20 Poll Dorsets, and Gaynor Farming purchased 49 rams for his Riverina operations.
Volume purchases in the White Suffolks included Moroco Pastoral, Deniliquin with 12 rams, and DB Ag, Ariah Park, who selected 11 new sires.
The sale was conducted by AWN Wilks McKean and Elders.
Media Release (Outriders Media).