CHROME Sheep Studs held their 13th on-property Summer Ram Sale on January 15, which was also online with Auctions Plus.

A total offering of 249 rams met with solid demand resulting in a 93 per cent clearance, aided by strong support from AuctionsPlus bidders.

The highlight of the sale was the total clearance of the 119 terminal rams on offer, covering the ICON Southies, ICON 25s and ICON Poll Dorsets, with an average of $1101.

There were two top priced terminal rams, both ICON 25s, Lots 196 and 200 sold to long-term Chrome client C, B, C and J Grant for $1600.

Chrome’s feature breed, the Chromedales, saw the sale’s top priced ram at $1900, Lot 85 acquired by long term repeat buyers Barry and Karen Hammat (KINGSCOTE)

The Chromedale ram Australian Sheep Breeding Values were MCP+ 172, WWT 6.8, PWT 12 PFAT 0.7, PEMD 3.2

The volume buyers of the sale were Wattlebank (Toolondo), purchasing a total of terminal 22 rams (14 ICON Southie, 4 Poll Dorset, 4 ICON 25s), Delta Ag purchasing 12 ICON Southies, and Mepungah (Wannon) purchasing 12 rams (4 Chromedales, 3 ICON Southies & 4 ICON 25s).

Chrome principal, Matt Tonissen said the weather has played a part in the good result.

“The rain events over the last six weeks and a return to some normality in the lamb market has given lamb producers a bit more confidence going forward,”  he said.

“A slight swing to terminal sires this year, resulted in a solid sale for our terminal rams. In saying all that, we thought the offering of terminal rams displayed the easy finishing, good carcass traits we’ve been breeding for.”