Victoria’s growing interest in (and obvious shortage of) crossbred sheep was borne out Thursday when buyers from all major prime lamb districts flocked to Ballarat for the second’s of southwest region’s crossbred ewe sales.
Offering some 25,000 head of young ewes, ewe lambs and mature age ewes, bidding were tightly held across all categories with young ewe values topping the $300 a head mark on no fewer three occasions.
With a market top of $310 a head stamped on the first sale for the Armstrong family’s November-shorn Cornhill Partners young ewes, June/July 15-drop, from Langi Logan, near Ararat, remaining sales varied little in an outstanding display which resulted in a large percentage of 1.5 year-old yarding traded between $250 and $295 a head.
Sales of ewe lambs were also as fiercely contested with pens of joinable size priced between $258 and $270 while restocker lines, shorn, made $168-$216, and $134- $170 for unshorn lambs.