Rick Power, Nutrien, Liz and Steve Phillips, Sam Phillips, Damian Meaburn and Angus Campbell.
Top price ram sold $55,000 to Wiringa Park, Poll Merino Stud, WA.
Yarrawonga Merino and Poll Merino Stud has done it again and held a landmark sale, breaking records in the process, last Monday on farm.
The annual sale draws buyers from across the nation, with this year’s highest priced ram going to Western Australia to expand operations there.
Located just a few kilometres east of the Twin Towns, Yarrawonga has built on decades of experience of the Phillips family and are at the forefront of technology and genetics.
Stud Principal Steve Phillips said, “We had a massive crowd of people. It was the biggest crowd of people we’ve ever had. There would have been 250 people there. It went really well; we couldn’t be happier.”
“Our top price ram went over to Western Australia. We don’t normally have clients come from that far. They saw the particular ram at Bendigo as we had a display and then they followed him through Southwest Slopes day at Harden. They’ve been keeping an eye on him all year.”
“We have a display at Bendigo each year. There was a lot of stud buyers there this year, which was probably more than normal, which helps with the higher prices.”
“If you are looking for that particular bloodline, we had a couple of new sires, homebred sires, that are breeding really well, and there were people there replacing their bloodlines.”
Steve was happy with the top priced ram which broke the half ton. He said, “The top price was a record on property for us. That’s the highest average we’ve ever had also.”
“We had 280 lots and they were all sold. Total clearance.”
The day and the year leading up to the sale is a lot of hard work. The rams are penned in a marquee style setting so people can view them early and under all weather conditions. Rain, hail or shine.
Steve said, “The Rams are penned early at 7:30am so people can have plenty of time to look at them all day and yes, it was a good day.”
“We have people come from all over. Quite a few went to Tasmania, quite a few went to Victoria and pretty much all over New South Wales.
“The weather is helping at the moment. Commodity prices are okay. We need some more rain to finish our crops off around the local area at Harden.”
The Phillips’ family has a number of properties across different geographic areas all with their own independent rain falls.
“We have got some other properties at Cooma as well and it’s very dry up there on the Monaro. So they’re looking for rain. But there’s still confidence in the Merino industry, definitely, because it’s part and parcel of the terminal and the Merino industry. So, I think the future’s pretty good. The wool market is good, the mutton market is good, the lamb market is good, and we just want to keep our season ticking over.”
Success comes from genetics, research and hard work, something the family never shies away from.
“The early growth we’ve put into our sheep, combined with their very good wool, and very good data, ASVBs, we call it. Very good lines of data and people are chasing that at the moment too. We have a very large AI program, artificial insemination program, and then a very large embryo transplant program as well, and then every lamb is DNA’d when they are born.
So we’ve got pedigrees back generations, which makes the breed a lot more predictable than without that.”
“That is probably a big thing. We do collect all the data. And then you’ve got the physical attributes as well, the visual ones.
“We won the pen of three rams at the South West Slopes Field Day (pictured below). It was a very big day, a great day, with about 1600 people there.”
There is no doubt that Yarrawonga will continue to be industry leaders.
In the past, when times have been tough, they have offered extra numbers so that all of their clients can get a ram or two.
Yarrawonga continues to be fine exponents of the ethos of people and profitability, running an excellent enterprise and treating everyone fairly while meeting the market.
The South West Slopes Times covers an area approximately the size of Fiji in country NSW. We look after a population of more than 50,000 people with our staff servicing 7 major towns and dozens of villages with our story telling footprint.
We offer weekly print editions at $3 a copy and we also offer digital subscriptions across 3 months $30, 6 months $60 and 12 months $120.
We are one of the last truly local independent family run newspaper businesses in the state.
Contact us today to find out how we can promote your business or organisation across our huge network by emailing ads@thetimes.net.au or by calling 0413 763 216.
If you have a news tip, lead or scoop for us please make contact as we love celebrating our communities. You can contribute articles via our South West Slopes Times website.
