Kojak ram sells to a top of $2600

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Farm Weekly Thursday, October 9, 2014
Kojak ram sells to a top of $2600
The sale was rounded out by
20 rams from Simon Kerin’s
Ashbourne White Suffolk stud,
Katanning, of which 18 were
sold and average $825.
Commenting after the sale
Elders auctioneer Preston Clarke
said the Heggatons had stepped
into the unknown with the sale
and the result had exceeded
expectations.
“Due to Craig’s initiative and
foresight with his
BreedersBEST program, he has
lead the way for creating a
maternal flock for the prime
lamb industry,” Mr Clarke said.
“It’s really opened the door
for the sheepmeat industry to
retain breeders and potentially
build the meat sector.
“At the moment we’re seeing
99 per cent of first cross ewe
lambs being slaughtered as
prime lamb and that’s not
sustainable.
“Craig has developed an
alternative and buyers are
responding to that.”
It was a back-to-front sale in
some regards, as the $2600 top
price ram of the day was sold at
the very last pen of the
BreedersBEST offering,
finishing the sale on a high and
an indication of the huge
demand for Kojak rams.
Strong competition on every
Kojak lot stepped up a notch in
the final 15 pens when buyers
realised they were coming to an
end, with most of them selling
for more than $2000 and
eventually peaking at $2600
when Phillip and Jake Martin,
GS & B Martin, Wickepin,
placed the last bid.
Like many of the 61
registered buyers, the Martins
By CAITLYN BURLING
AS far as first on-property ram
sales go, the BreedersBEST
Genetics ram sale was an
absolute cracker.
With a quiet confidence there
was demand for his unique
product, stud principal Craig
Heggaton had set out to test the
waters of on-property auctions,
but instead of dipping his toe he
made an almighty splash.
When the car park at the
Heggaton’s Kojonup property
was already packed with utes
and trailers an hour before the
sale started, it was a heavy hint
that this was the ram sale a large
number of sheep producers had
been waiting for.
Under the banner of their
BreedersBEST Genetics, Craig
and Liz Heggaton had enough
self-assurance to put up 187
rams at their first auction, 185 of
which were sold under the
hammer and the remaining two
snapped up before the sale had
finished.
A large proportion of the rams
were from their Sherwood Poll
Dorset stud, with 101 offered
and 99 selling for an average of
$1044.
But it was their two unique
maternal brands of rams that
garnered most of the attention,
ensuring all of the 24 Prolific
rams and 62 Kojak rams sold to
high demand and even higher
values.
When the totals of the three
different BreedersBEST lines of
rams were added up, 185 of the
187 rams were sold with the
guidance of a combined Elders
and Landmark team at an
average of $1362.
INAUGURAL BREEDERSBEST GENETICS
ON-PROPERTY RAM SALE
(Under the hammer results)
offered
BreedersBEST
Sherwood Poll
Dorset
Prolific
Kojak
sold
top
gross
average
101
24
62
99
24
62
$2200
$1900
$2600
$103,350
$34,800
$113,800
$1044
$1450
$1835
Total
Ashbourne
White Suffolk
187
185
$2600
$251,950
$1362
20
18
$1500
$14,850
$825
Total
207
203
$2600
$266,800
$1314
❐ With the $2600 top Kojak ram was buyer Phillip Martin, (left),
Wickepin, with Elders auctioneer Preston Clarke, Jake Martin and
BreedersBEST Genetics and Kojak stud principal Craig Heggaton.
had been privately purchasing
Kojak rams from the Heggatons
for the past three years and were
keen to participate in the stud’s
first auction to fill their ram
requirements.
The Martins had been
particularly pleased with the
performance of the Kojak rams
in their sheep enterprise, with its
optimum breed combination of
Wiltipoll, White Dorper, East
Friesian and Finn.
Having already purchased
four Kojak rams for an average
of $1975, the Martins wanted a
fifth sire to complete their set
and went the extra bid to secure
it.
“This is our third year buying
them, we really like how they
work in our system,” Phillip
Martin said.
“They just keep growing, have
a great temperament and are
good shedders.
“All the great attributes we
need.”
The ram was the product of
natural mating and had a 35.5kg
WWT, 49kg PWWT, 4mm of
fat depth and 32mm eye muscle
depth, in addition to a growth
rate of 281 grams a day.
❐ Kojak
The clear demand for Kojak
rams was evident not only in the
results but also at the end of the
sale as buyers scrambled to
choose from the overflow of
rams in the shearing shed.
As it stood at the closing of
the sale, all 62 Kojak rams sold
for a top of $2600, and posted
the highest average of $1835.
All of the 18 buyers operating
on the line-up took home two or
more rams and only a couple
stood out as volume buyers.
Large numbers seemed to be
fitting for the largest buying
team, with Geoff Thorn, G & W
Thorn, Kojonup, bringing along
his three sons Lachie, Hamish
and Rohan to purchase a total of
16 Kojak rams.
It almost looked like the
Thorn contingent had clinched
the sale top price when they paid
to a top of $2500 for their
second last ram, but instead they
earned the volume buyer title
after securing their 16 rams for a
$1956 average.
JW & SD Knipe, Northam,
were also keen for Kojaks and
bought seven rams and topping
at $1700 four times.
CR & GL Inkster, Esperance,
drove a long way to buy four
Kojak rams, working their way
up from initially paying $1400
and $1500 to top at $2000 twice.
Four rams were also knocked
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down to HR & EM Smith & Co,
Yealering, who paid $1800 for
each of them.
❐ Poll Dorset
The largest line of the day was
the Sherwood Poll Dorset rams,
offering 101 and selling 99
under strong competition to
average $1044.
It was a long, stretchy ram
that had an impressive
CarcasePlus index of 195.5
which took the interest of several
buyers, eventually being
knocked down to Shane and
Eddie Glancy, Glancy & Sons,
Bridgetown for the $2200 top.
With the ideal combination of
growth figures and visually
correct composition, the Poll
Dorset ram was the best in the
shed according to the Glancys.
“There was a great balance
between his good figures and
structure,” Shane said.
“He impressed us from the
beginning.”
It had LambPlan figures of
0.41 BWT, 8.20 WWT, 12.68
PWWT, -0.35 PFAT and 2.69
PEMD to add value to the
Glancy’s commercial sheep
breeding program.
With so many rams to choose
from, 22 buyers shared the
offering between them, with the
most going to volume buyer The
Southway Trust, Mt Hawthorn,
who purchased a total of 15 Poll
Dorset rams, topping at $1100
twice.
Keen to get his rams early,
Bill O’Keeffe, Gnowangerup,
purchased his 10 Poll Dorset
rams within the first 40 pens and
paid a top of $2000, averaging
$1280.
Ben Thompson, Benbrook
Grazing, Boyup Brook, mirrored
Mr O’Keeffe in the fact that he
81
Farm Weekly Thursday, October 9, 2014
was also after 10 rams, peaking
at $2000 while paying an
average of $1280.
Rachel Browne, TG & RC
Browne, Nyabing, paid solid
values to purchase six Poll
Dorset rams, as did RF & MR
Bilney, Kojonup, for their six
sires.
❐ Prolific
The Prolific rams had wellearned their place at the
Heggaton’s first sale, with all 24
rams selling quickly for an
average of $1450.
The rams were an
advantageous combination of
East Friesian, Finn and Prime
SAMM breeds, bolstering the
maternal traits of any
commercial flock geared
towards the prime lamb markets.
Topping at $1900 after GE &
M Warburton & Co, Frankland,
recognised its potential, the
standout sire was a crowd
favourite with figures such as
40kg WWT, 58kg PWWT,
30mm EMD and a fat depth of
4mm.
It also had a growth rate of
261grams a day and a very
handy wool fleece that measured
22.2 micron on July 30, 2014
and was joined on the ride home
by the three other rams the
Warburtons purchased.
Others in the market for
Prolific rams included Denabling
Grazing Co, Narrogin, who
purchased eight sires and topped
at $1600 twice, while John
South, Darkan, purchased four
for a top of $1800.
❐ Ashbourne White Suffolk
Following his own successful
on-property sale, Ashbourne
stud principal Simon Kerin,
who has joined forces with the
Heggatons in a breeding
❐ BreedersBEST
Genetics and
Sherwood Poll
Dorset stud
principal Craig
Heggaton (left),
holds the $2200
top price Poll
Dorset ram, which
was purchased by
Shane and Eddie
Glancy, Bridgetown
and sold by Elders
auctioneer Preston
Clarke.
partnership offered 20 White
Suffolk rams at the sale, of
those, 18 sold at an average of
$825.
The $1500 top price was
reached after Simon Hill, SA &
DL Hill, Mindarabin,
successfully pursued the
impressive sire, which was one
of four rams he purchased.
Mr Hill was looking for a ram
that would encourage easy
lambing with low birthweights,
but also have the capacity to
grow quickly and it was the first
time he had purchased from the
stud and also the White Suffolk
breed.
The ram had LambPlan
figures of 0.28 BWT, 8.2 WWT,
13.06 PWWT, -0.38 PFAT and
1.39 PEMD with a high
CarcasePlus index of 181.79.
Others in the market for
White Suffolks were ER
Bungey & Son, Borden, who
purchased five sires, while T &
H Altham, Pingrup, bought four.
THE FUTURE IN PRIME LAMB GENETICS
• POLL DORSET • WHITE SUFFOLK
• KOJAK • PROLIFIC
The Heggaton family, Kojonup
thank all buyers and
underbidders for their support
at the family’s inaugural
on-property ram sale
1434413
RAMS AVAILABLE
FOR PRIVATE SELECTION
❐ Landmark meat breed specialist Roy Addis (left), is with buyer Simon
Hill, Mindarabin, who paid the $1500 top price for a ram from the
Ashbourne White Suffolk stud, presented by stud principal Simon Kerin.
Craig Heggaton 08 9834 1020 / 0429 882 822
craig@genstock.com.au www.breedersbestgenetics.com.au