Farmers have walked away from one of the earliest ram sales of the season on shaky legs.
Seasoned stock agents fared better at the Majella Poll Dorset Stud auction in Thoona, already braced for the blistering prices.
Bidding was so strong the honour of top-priced lot was split between six different rams who each sold for $3200.
For stud principal Bill Sammon the Friday sale, which averaged $2120, was a gamble that paid off.
“This is the first time the Majella stud has auctioned on-farm,” Mr Sammon said.
“We’ve been at the Shepparton saleyards for 37 odd years, but I had to make a decision with COVID.”
Mr Sammon started off the auction by thanking those who attended on short notice.
“We had a fair hiccup in organising the sale in Shepparton and I made the decision to bring it out here later than I probably should have,” he said.
“Thank you to the agents for helping us pull this off.”
Mr Sammon’s wife Glynis said it was nerve wrecking to bring the sale on-farm after nearly four decades at the saleyards.
“In the end we are pleased we’re out here,” Mrs Sammon said.
“Our son Tim has a few young kids and hasn’t been vaccinated yet because he’s under 40.
“For him it gave peace of mind because no-one wants to be exposed and isolated for two weeks.
“The quality of these rams is really good, they took off so well after the weak winter.”
AuctionsPlus was employed by Majella Poll Dorset Stud for the first time this year as a COVID-19 backup.
After the 107 stud rams were sold, buyers got to pick over a selection of 15 flock rams.
There were several big buyers at the sale including Nutrien Ag, Elders and Goulburn Valley Water ― all loyal clients of the Sammons.
Nuriten Ag Shepparton agent Brian McNamara bought 10 rams at the sale, which was the first he had attended this season.
“We are here every year,” Mr McNamara said.
“It was a good mix of buyers today and the agents were buying for other farmers. There was a lot of interest.”
Majella was the first ram sale of the season attended by Rodwells Benalla agent Dale Buitenhouis, too.
“The prices were about what we expected and really they are only going to go up,” he said.
Wilby farmer Anthony Hammon attended with his 10-year-old son Wally Hammon.
“Wally was on AuctionsPlus yesterday watching the videos and making notes on his favourite rams,” Mr Hammon said.
“We knew the prices would be high.
“I rang my stock agent before coming, we normally spend $1800 to $2000 on rams, but I knew we’d have to go a bit over to get a ram here.”
Adam Inchbold from Yarrawonga bought Majella rams for the first time last year and was back again.
“We are cropping and cattle, but now we’ve got 1000 ewes running about,” Mr Inchbold said.
“The rams yarded here have come up really well. They’ll fetch a good price all right.”
Paul Fleming and Steven Chapman worked as helping hands on the day.
“I reckon there are as many people here as they would be at the saleyards,” Mr Fleming said.
“A Friday sale can be a social occasion for people, plus they can check out how the market is acting.”
Last year the Majella Poll Dorset Stud celebrated its best sale ever when 101 rams sold for a $1336 average.
The ram sale was facilitated by Mulcahy Nelson Livestock.