2026 SA Stud Merino Expo
Ram of the Year
A stud sire with strong presence has taken out the Ram of the Year title at the Elders SA Stud Merino Expo, held at Burra today (Thursday).
After much deliberation, an Old Ashrose Poll Merino was chosen from a shortlisted lineup which included a Greenfields, Mulloorie and two Collinsville rams.
Old Ashrose's win broke a streak of five consecutive Ram of the Year titles for Collinsville.
Old Ashrose principal Nick Wadlow, Hallett, said he was pleased with the win and said the ram had always had presence and good structure.
"He's very correct on his feet, that's one of the positives," Mr Wadlow said.
"And with his purity from his head right through to his fleece...he's been like it since he was a lamb."
Sired by Manunda 470, a ram purchased from Wayne Button at Manunda Poll Merino stud at Tammin, WA, in 2023, the winning ram PF0362 is one of the first to come through from his drop.
Mr Wadlow said the ram was already a semen sire and would be taken to the Australian Sheep & Wool Show at Bendigo and the Royal Adelaide Show.
Weighing in at 147 kilograms, PF0362 carried a 21.6 micron fleece, with 3.0 standard deviation, 13.8 coefficient of variation and comfort factor of 99.6 percent.
Judge Ben Wilson, Wilgunya Merino Stud, Dirranbandi, QLD, had his work cut out in selecting the winners.
Impressed with the entire lineup from the pairs to the ram of the year, Mr Wilson, joined by junior associate judge Ryan Philp, Glen Holme, Manoora, said it was no surprise at the calibre of entries in this year's competition and it was a "credit to the SA stud breeders".
Commenting on the winning ram, Mr Wilson said he constantly caught his eye as he looked through the lineup.
"From a stud point of view, I think an animal's got to carry himself like a stud animal and he holds his head proud, he has presence," Mr Wilson said.
"He's excellent on all four feet, he wants to be a ram and that's what got him there.
"He's also got beautiful wool and a faultless underline...he's pretty impressive."
With significant judging experience under his belt, Mr Wilson said this lineup would have had to be the hardest he's chosen from in a while.
Winning the pairs (ram and ewe) competition was a duo from the Greenfields Merino and Poll Merino Stud at Booborowie.
Stud principal Rob Sullivan said the winning ram and ewe pair were sired by the same ram - Buddy 32.
"They're both similar types, they're big outstanding sheep," Mr Sullivan said.
"They have long staples, big barrels, plenty of carcass, plenty of production and they're nice and pure with soft muzzles.
"They've got nice big meaty back ends, which we need these days."
The pair, aged one year and 11 months, will now go on to represent the state at the national competition in Bendigo.
"I think the ram probably picked himself, he's very impressive. His head and muzzle, he has a soft pure muzzle. He has a really long staple, with white stylish wool and well nourished wool and the ewe matches him in the wool type," Mr Wilson said.
"She's very big for her type, too. She has a meaty square back end...they probably match each other pretty well."
2025 On Property Sale
Thank you to all purchasers and under bidders for 2025
96 Merino and Poll Merino rams sold to a top of $7,250 , averaged $1,816
80 White Suffolk rams sold to a top of $2,100, averaged $1,025
Buyers from across the pastoral zone in particular ensured a near-total clearance at the Old Ashrose annual on-property ram sale, Hallett.
Of the 193 rams offered, 192 were sold, with strong demand for both White Suffolks and Poll Merinos.
In the breakdown, all 80 White Suffolks cleared to a top of $2100 at lot 9, averaging $1025, while 96 of 97 Merinos sold to a top of $7250 at lot 12, surpassing last years top price, averaging $1816.
The mini-auction cleared all 16 rams to $2000, averaging $1175.
The $7250 top-price Poll Merino, lot 12, was purchased by Mutooroo Pastoral Company for stud duties.
Sired by Wallaloo Park PWP060, the 127.5 kilogram ram had 124pc body weight and 126pc greasy fleece weight figures.
It carried a 20.3 micron fleece, with 2.6 standard deviation, 12.8 coefficient of variation and a 99.7 per cent comfort factor.
Mutooroo's Ed Morgan said the ram had the structure and wool qualities they were seeking.
"I think he just really has that stud sire outlook," Mr Morgan said.
"He's very deep in his body, very good on his legs and very high in fleece weight.
"He's a really rich, stylish stud wool ram with terrific bone, carcass and exceptional wool cuts.
"All four rams we bought today were very consistent."
Mr Morgan said the rams would go directly into their 2000 stud ewe program at Mutooroo Station, which also supplies Mulyungarie and Lilydale stations.
Old Ashrose stud principal Nick Wadlow said the sale result exceeded expectations.
"We were really pleased with it, especially at the top end," Mr Wadlow said.
"Lot 12 stood out with his wool quality, a very long-stapled, rich, white wool on a big frame, from a family that has bred very well for us."
He said it was encouraging to see both repeat and new clients support the Merino offering.
The White Suffolk catalogue also drew strong support, topping at $2100 for lot 9, a ram purchased by CR Low and Son, Whites Range.
Lot 9 weighed 115.5kg and had Australian Sheep Breeding Values of 0.28 birth weight, 16.66 Post Weaning Weight, -0.46 PFAT, 1.70 PEMD, and a 142.02 Terminal Carcase Production index.
"He's a good type - nice and square on his feet, with good figures and doing ability," Mr Wadlow said.
"We were very excited to clear them all, it reflects the strength in the lamb market and confidence in the industry."
Buyer David Low said lot 9 impressed with its data and structural soundness.
"He's got a really good TCP, low birth weight, fast growth rates and just a well put-together ram," Mr Low said.
"It was a very even line-up - we were able to buy from the front row right through to the back."
In total, 35 of the 39 registered bidders took home rams.
CR Low and Son, Whites Range, was the largest volume buyer, securing 23 White Suffolks to average $1174.
RJM Pastoral, Port Augusta, bought 17 rams at an $800 average, Elders, Broken Hill, took home 13 at a $1000 average, while Oulnina Nominees, Manna Hill, secured 12 at $1283.
Elders auctioneer Tony Wetherall described the sale as solid across both breeds.
"The White Suffolks had depth of quality right through and the Merinos were outstanding for their balance, size and wool quality," Mr Wetherall said.
"They are sheep that will go out and perform across a range of environments."
The sale was conducted by Elders, with Mr Wetherall the auctioneer.
2024 On Property Sale
Thank you to all purchasers and under bidders for 2024
99 Merino and Poll Merino rams sold to a top of $5,250 , averaged $1,782
75 White Suffolk rams sold to a top of $2,100, averaged $1,557
Rams were in demand across the White Suffolk and Poll Merino line-ups at Old Ashrose, Hallett, on Thursday last week, with all bar one of the 197 rams on offer selling.
In the breakdown, all 99 Poll Merinos sold to a top of $5250, averaging $1782; all 75 White Suffolks sold to a top of $2100 - up $300 on 2023 - averaging $1557, while in the mini-auction, 4 of 5 Merino rams sold averaging $1000, while all 18 Poll Merinos sold averaging $1000.
The bidding on the $5250 top price Poll Merino was won by long-time client Eddie Morgan, of Mutooroo Station, who thought the ram boasted a "very sound and balanced structure".
Sired by Manunda Fred, the 125-kilogram ram in lot 5, had a 19.6-millimetre fat depth, 115 per cent birthweight, 3.2 standard deviation, 16.4pc coefficient of variation, 99.3pc comfort factor, plus a greasy fleece weight of 136pc.
"They are a super productive sheep. They keep adding to our stud and stud stock," Mr Morgan said.
Located at Cockburn in North East SA, Mutooroo Station has a Poll Merino stud with 1800 ewes and a large commercial flock. Eddie said at full capacity they can have up to 80,000 sheep across the property.
Strong bidding at the top end of the catalogue saw two rams make a second-highest price of $4250.
They included Lot 1, purchased by SD&NA Nankivell, Tumby Bay.
Sired by Pet Family, this ram boasted measurements of 19.9mm fat, 3.1SD, 15.5CV and 99.6CF, while lot 8, which also made $4250 to JW&MJ Pluckrose, Jamestown, featured 20.3M, 3.3SD, 16.2CV, 99.5CF and was sired by Manunda Fred.
The top White Suffolk at lot 13 sold to T&S Robinson, Naracoorte. It boasted 0.38BWT, post-weaning weight of 19.6, -0.9Pfat, 1.1PEMD, and 143.8TCP.
Lot 9 sold for $2000 in a strong bidding competition to eventual winners CR Low & Son, Tumby Bay.
Sired by Depta Grove, the 110.5kg measured 0.4BWT, 18.7PWWT, -0.7Pfat, 1.1PEMD, and 141.4TCP.
Volume White Suffolk ram buyers Scott and Amanda Michael of Carriewerloo Station, north-west of Port Augusta, took home 14 White Suffolk rams averaging $800.
For the past three years they have purchased rams from the Old Ashrose White Suffolk stud.
After coming out of the 2018-19 drought, they had the chance to purchase some White Suffolk rams to move on lambs and increase their stocking rates.
"They are good doers who we can trust will do the job they need to do, and have good conception rates," Mr Michael said.
The Michaels now join about 12,000 ewes - 1500 of those to White Suffolks and the rest to Merinos - and they shear about 23,000 sheep from across their 1600 square-kilometre property.
These buyers were among a strong crowd of 36 registered on the day, who came from throughout SA, NSW and Vic.
Other volume buyers included RD&DG Blight, through Elders Burra, who took 10 rams (both White Suffolk and Poll Merino) to $1500, averaging $1170; while GM&VR Power, through Elders Orroroo, took 10 rams to $1400, averaging $1100.
Old Ashrose principal Nick Wadlow was "rapt with the result".
"We had all of our long-term clients here and as always they supported us really well," he said.
"The White Suffolks were fantastic, we were really happy with the line-up."
While there were a couple of new faces, Mr Wadlow said all repeat buyers had lots of confidence in the sheep industry and felt the next couple of years would be pretty good.
"The sheep we are developing is really represented here today. Structure and frame and early maturity and they're heavy wool-cutters," he said.
Elders conducted the sale, with studstock manager Tony Wetherall commenting on the "exceptional" evenness and depth of quality on offer at Old Ashrose.
"The White Suffolks were really well grown, with great carcase qualities," he said.
"You can see why they perform so well both from a stud and a commercial point of view, their sheep certainly go out to many and varying environments and really survive and thrive and add dollars to the commercial producers.
"It was the depth of quality, the evenness and the type right throughout the White Suffolk line-up that made for strong bidding right throughout the sale."
2023 On Property Sale
Thank you to all purchasers and under bidders for 2023
99 Merino and Poll Merino rams sold to a top of $9,500 , averaged $2,097
80 White Suffolk rams sold to a top of $1,800, averaged $1,200
Not even the high winds and dusty moments could deter producers returning to Old Ashrose, Hallett, for the 2023 on-property sale on Thursday.
There were 80 White Suffolks offered to start proceedings with 100 per cent clearance to top at $1800 for Lot 7 and average $1200, which was $100 up on the 2022 sale.
The Merino and Poll Merino sale followed with 99 rams offered and sold - 91 Poll Merinos and eight Merinos - to a top of $9500 for Lot 3 and average of $2097.
In the White Suffolk sale, the top price Old Ashrose 220193 was a June 2022-drop twin, sired by Old Ashrose 200025.
It was bought by GJ Bourne through Elders Roseworthy.
The top price Poll Merino ram, at $9500, was bought by Drualat Bore Pastoral, Tailem Bend, through Platinum Wool Services.
Sired by the Old Ashrose family PC0068, Lot 3 tested 18.3 micron, 2.4 standard deviation, 13.2 coefficient of variation, 141 per cent greasy fleece weight and weighed 123 kilograms.
Platinum Wool's Geoff Clarke said the ram was "very stylish in the wool" with "good crimp definition" and good length of body.
Drualat Bore Pastoral run 5000 ewes near Tailem Bend and have been buying Old Ashrose rams for three years.
Buyer Maree Helliar said the rams adapted well to their area.
"They have always been very stylish and very robust sheep and they handle our area well," she said.
The top price Merino Ram was Lot 24 at $2000 to GM Gunn & Sons, through Elders Naracoorte.
The sale remained strong the whole way through the sale with rams still making upwards of $4000 in the final 10 rams.
Tag number WP0384, it was sired by a Wallaloo Park Merino Family ram and had fleece of 19.9M, 3.3SD and 99.6CF.
Volume buyer was Kelendo Station, through Elders Port Augusta, which purchased 21 Poll Merino rams at $1000 average.
Highest volume buyer in the White Suffolks was T&S Robinson, through PPHS Naracoorte, which bought 13 rams to an average of $1338.
Windjara Ag, through Elders Jamestown, purchased 12 rams to an average of $1316.
Elders' Tony Wetherall and Damien Webb conducted to 2023 sale.
Mr Wetherall said the White Suffolk sale were terrifically presented and sold to solid competition with good order through.
"The depth of quality again was extremely good," he said.
Moving on to the Merino and Poll Merino sale, Mr Wetherall said he enjoyed going to Old Ashrose.
"It is always a pleasure to come to Old Ashrose, they really do have a good article with big, bulky with good bone and structure," he said.
"They cut plenty of wool and really do fill bales."
Old Ashrose's Nick Wadlow said he was pleasantly surprised with the clearance rate.
"We had our repeat buyers as well as two new clients with one being from the Adelaide Hills and other one from Clare," he said about the White Suffolk offering.
Rams sold into pastoral areas of SA as well as interstate into Victoria.
Touching on the Merinos, Mr Wadlow said the sale started strong.
"The top end had very strong competition, probably more than we have had in the past which was very pleasing," he said.
"We had two new clients here today and our solid repeat clients some of which have been buying for three generations."
The sale was conducted by Elders Burra.
2022 On Property Sale
Thank you to all purchasers and under bidders for 2022
117 Merino and Poll Merino rams sold to a top of $8,400 , averaged $2,716
80 White Suffolk rams sold to a top of $3,500, averaged $1,084
OLD Ashrose followed up a rare fleece feat at the Royal Adelaide Show, with a fantastic result at its on-property sale at Hallett on Thursday.
Fresh from winning grand champion and reserve grand champion in both ram and ewe fleeces at the Royal, the Wadlow family enjoyed full clearances on 147 Poll Merino and Merino rams, and 80 White Suffolks.
The average on their 117 main sale Poll Merino and Merinos rose $66 from 2021 to hit $2716.
All thirty mini auction rams were sold quickly and averaged $1077, while the 80 White Suffolks averaged $1084.
In his opening address, stud principal Nick Wadlow said the stud's core focuses continued to be structure, do-ability and wool cut.
Strong demand from repeat pastoral, Upper North, Eyre Peninsula and South East clients was a testament to that do-ability in different environments, and increased seasonal confidence, according to Mr Wadlow.
"We're extremely pleased with how the sale went," he said.
"We think the sheep represent good value for money because they're good productive rams.
"There is also a fair bit of confidence in the season now which certainly helped.
"There has been good rains across the state recently and that put some buoyancy into the sale."
With a good season on their stations, Mutooroo Pastoral Company had no hesitation in bidding up to secure their desired rams.
The Morgan family were active at the top end last year and again were there when the whips were cracking on the picks of the catalogue.
Bound for their registered stud were the top-priced lot 25 at $8400 and lot 39 at $8200.
The former had wool figures of 18.5 micron, 2.7 standard deviation, 14.6 coefficient of variation and 99.7 per cent comfort factor, wrapped around a 115 kilogram frame.
Its bodyweight and greasy fleece weight sat 30pc and 26pc above its peers respectively.
The latter was even larger at 125kg, with a wool cut 20pc above its peers, with wool figures of 21.9 for micron, 2.7 SD, 12.3 CV and 99.6CF.
Mutooroo bought four rams in total, averaging $6500.
Other top end support came from regulars like Borda Park Graziers, Coulta, who bought six rams for a $3692 average, GM Butler & Sons, Lochaber, buying nine averaging $2917, JG&S Weckert, Clare, buying nine averaging $3117, Rollingstone Pastoral Co, Hillston, NSW, buying five averaging $3250, and Ian Gunn Family Trust, Mount Cooper, buying seven averaging $2986.
Lemon Grove Merino Stud, Nyngan, NSW, bought throughout and ended up with 20 rams at an average of $2315.
Other volume buyers included Holowiliena South, Cradock, buying 12, averaging $1083, in the mini auction, and GM&VR Power, Orroroo, with seven, averaging $1243.
Elders conducted the sale with auctioneer Tony Wetherall saying the lineup was a great example of the traits Old Ashrose rams were renowned for.
"They're big, well-grown, they have good shape and carcase qualities, and the wools are very good quality with plenty of it," he said.
"The return buyers keep coming back because they know they're going to get big productive rams that will help put money in their bank."
Mr Wadlow was also pleased to see both stud and pastoral support on the line up of White Suffolks sold earlier in the day.
The $3500 top-priced ram is bound for stud duties at Parawa, on the southern Fleurieu Peninsula.
Also a prime lamb producer, Ben Thorn, Avago White Suffolks, was impressed with the ram's temperament from a pre-viewing and also liked the spread of figures it possessed.
The 104.5kg July 2021-drop ram had the highest terminal carcase production index figure in the catalogue at 148.4.
Volume buyers on the White Suffolks included BS & W Trust taking ten and averaging $800, and RJ Michael Props, Port Augusta, with six at an $800 average.
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