Self-shedding ram sells for $24,500 at Gore Showgrounds

A Wiltshire crossed with an Exlana shedding ram from Enfield Genetics breeder Grant Kean. Photo / Chris Ensor

By Penny Miles of RNZ

An elite ram has set the Gore Showgrounds alight, with one lucky Southland breeder earning more than three times his previous best for the country’s highest-priced ram this year.

A Wiltshire crossed with an Exlana shedding ram from Enfield Genetics breeder Grant Kean at Winton received competitive bidding up to the $20,000 mark before the hammer came down at $24,500.

“It was a bit of a shock and surprise,” said Kean, who was in the ring while the hearty bidding took place last week.

“We sold one last year for $8000, so I thought it might come near that, but I’m just over the moon.”

A Perendale ram topped last week’s Gore Ram Fair, selling for $19,000, but Kean’s reward of $24,500 at the Gore shedding sheep sale was the top price for a ram throughout the North and South Islands this year.

Bought by a syndicate of Balclutha’s Hamish Bielski and North Canterbury duo Daniel Wheeler and Chris Ensor, the ram will be put to work at different corners of the breeding season.

Speaking to RNZ from Scotland, where he was busy scanning sheep, Wheeler said he was confident the “really good” ram was worth every cent.

“He had a really great set of figures,” Wheeler, who farmed near Amberley, said.

“All his performance records were really good, really well balanced across the board.

“One of the highest-indexing rams in the country and coupled with that, he was just a really good ram.

“He’s structurally sound, great legs, great feet, a very long ram.”

Ensor — from Cust, near Oxford — said the prized ram would start its work with a mating cycle on his farm during a 20-day stay in North Canterbury.

“The ram is going to start in North Canterbury and then hitch-hike south down to near Balclutha for Hamish.

“It’s not uncommon to share rams between different locations, and you give them a couple of days rest and then put them on a truck.

“Our tupping dates are earlier.

“We’ll put it over some of our best, then Hamish gets to pick it up.

“There is a servicing agreement so he’s not worn out.

“At Hamish Bielski’s place, he’ll have longer down there, so he can take it a bit easier.”

And with lambing starting on Ensor’s farm in late August, the offspring would not be too far away.

- RNZ