This year, eight studs will offer 60 high quality Merino and Poll Merino rams on Tuesday, August 15.

Group secretary Anna Toland said they were thrilled to welcome Kevin Hynam’s Hynam Poll Merino stud to participate for the first time in the sale.

In the past year, the Hynam family has relocated from Hopetoun, in the Mallee, to Longwood. Stud principal Kevin Hynam said the decision allowed the family-based operation to focus on livestock and they were already seeing benefits – with the sheep’s staple length alreadylooking long, before their September shearing. Hynam Poll will offer eight rams that epitomise what they’re breeding for – large, plain-bodied sheep with elite wool. Bindawarra, Bennmann, Kilfeera Park, Koole Vale, Toland Poll, Wirrate and Kilfeera Park Poll will also offer rams.

Ms Toland said it was terrific that the sale continued to grow, for example the Harrison family’s Bindawarra stud will take part for the second consecutive year.

She said the majority of the rams in the catalogue were Poll Merinos this year, and the value of a multivendor sale was the stud masters’ different breeding goals and offering would suit different operations. She said the group hoped to build on previous years’ successes, for example last year’s achieved an 85 per cent clearance and its average price was up on the previous year’s result.

She said all-purpose judging of the sale rams before they go under the hammer, backed up by objective scan data continued to set this multivendor sale apart. She said it would continue for many years to come, despite this year being the last that Stefan Spiker will do fat and muscle scanning. Ms Toland thanked him for being a really great supporter of all-purpose judging since its inception. This year, Alan Coombes and Josh Bonacci will be the wool and meat judges respectively.

Ms Toland said scanning the rams and having them judged on the morning of the sale (with the sale to start at 1pm) created a great atmosphere before the auctioneer put up the first pen.

She said it was a “great day out” at the Benalla Showgrounds. Elders will conduct the sale. 

She said the event’s timing, after major multivendor sales at Bendigo and Hamilton, meant people could top up rams if they’d missed out. The North East sale is also before Victorian on-property ram sales, and commercial operators use the event to research what will on offer at those sales in coming months. 

She said the terrific sale at the Australian Sheep and Wool Show, Bendigo, boded well for upcoming auctions. 

“We’ve had a dry start to the season, but we’re slowly catching up here in the North East,” Ms Toland said. “And prices are still magnificent for wool and sheep. 

“People are happy to spend money on a good ram if they’ll get a good return.”

She said they were buoyed by some local producers returning to running sheep.