SPURRED on by the wind gusts and dust blasts, prices were blasting through the roof at this year's Elders Corrigin and Wickepin circuit ewe sale, dubbed as the Top of the Drop.
A huge crowd braved the weather and gathered at the Corrigin saleyards for the first of three stops in this year's line-up to secure top quality ewes and wethers, with the cream of this year's ewe drop attracting the big money.
With a yarding across the three sites totalling 15,087 ewes and wether lambs, buyers were spoilt for choice and had to hustle within the tightly packed lanes to get to the front and place their bids.
Prices peaked early in the day when an outstanding line of 184 1.5 year-old ewes came up for auction, offered by Al Whyte, AJ & TJ Whyte, Kondinin, which sent buyers clambering for their bidding cards.
It was a fast climb to the $156 top as a handful of bidders dug their heels in but eventually gave way to Westcoast Livestock York agent Mark Fairclough.
Mr Fairclough pursued the Claypans blood ewes on behalf of Rodney Haythornthwaite, Quairading, who knew the high quality level of the Whyte family's Merino flock after purchasing their older ewes last month.
Mr Haythornthwaite had heard the Whytes were considering a gradual dispersal of their Merino flock and was keen to build his own numbers with excellent existing genetics.
"I had heard they were getting out of sheep and I knew they were genuinely good Merinos, so we wanted to make sure we got hold of them," Mr Haythornthwaite said.
"They all have a nice big frame and are heavy wool cutters, which suits what we do."
He said they were keen to boost their numbers from 2000 Merino ewes, in addition to ewe lambs, in the future and plan to put Anro rams over their latest addition on the first day of November.
Mr Whyte said the ewes were almost the last of their sheep to be sold, as they had this year's lambs on the ground which he planned to sell at the same sale next year.
Other lines of 1.5yo ewes bringing good money included a large line of 407 ewes, also of Claypans bloodlines, offered by John Hewett, Chas Hewett & Co, Corrigin, which was purchased by Orrvale Grazing, Kojonup, for $134.
The same buyer also paid $111 for an earlier line of 212 1.5yo, Manunda blood ewes offered by MA & BJ Szczecinski.
KC & JD Baker's offering of 300 Wallinar blood, 1.5yo ewes also cracked the three figure mark after Elders Boyup Brook agent Peter Forrest paid $116 on behalf of MM & MJ Johnston & Co, Boyup Brook, to secure them.
A genuine dispersal of Merino ewes offered by Rod and Lyn Baker, Corrigin, was well received by the crowd and totalled just under 1500 females, all of Wallinar bloodlines and shorn in September.
The first line of 496 2.5yo ewes were sold for the Baker family's top of $106, which was purchased by an Eastern States buyer, Southern Riverina Livestock and Property, Finley, New South Wales.
The same buyer paid $93 for the Bakers' second line of 127 2.5yo ewes as well.
Francis Enterprises, Kulin, paid the round figure of $100 for 488 of its 3.5yo ewes, while RL Cake & Co, Gairdner, spent $91 to secure their 382 4.5yo ewes.
Moving down the line and up the ages and it was two lines of older Eastville blood ewes from WG Young & Co that continued to attract the high values, starting with their 160 4.5yo females that were purchased by MA & PK Wood, Green Range, for $111.
Cameron Stone, LD & JP Stone & Co, Corrigin, purchased the Youngs' 410 5.5yo ewes for $106.
Some older 4.5 and 5.5yo pure Capolinga blood Prime SAMM ewes offered by WP & TM Garlick also proved to be crowd favourites and were sold for $92 to Bruce Parsons Farms, Narembeen.
CS & AR Murray & Son put forward quite a few Eastville-blood lines that met solid buyer competition, starting with their 150 1.5yo ewes that were purchased by the previously mentioned MA & PK Wood, Green Range for $90.
That was followed by their 182 4.5yo ewes bought for $95 by RL Cake & Co, Gairdner, then 234 5.5yo ewes purchased by Francis Enterprises, Kulin, for $87.
They also offered two lines of Merino wether lambs, the first of which amounted to 221 and sold for $69, with the second line of 103 fetching $60.
Other wether lambs in demand included a line of 400 from E Brayshaw & Son, and 246 from Al Whyte, AJ & TJ Whyte, which were bought for a top of $88 and $85 respectively by Livestock Shipping Services.
Once the sale concluded, many of the prospective buyers headed towards Wickepin and stopped off at Bradley and Jodie Talbot's Bullaring property for the on-farm dispersal of their well-established Merino ewe flock.
The second stop of the circuit sale continued the momentum gained by the Corrigin leg and all of the Talbot family's 1884 Merino ewes found a new home.
It was the first line of 430 1.5yo ewes, based on Collinsville bloodlines, that garnered most of the attention, selling for $122 to Landmark Wickepin and Kulin agent Ty Miller.
Mr Miller purchased the ewes in conjunction with farm manager Jeremy McColl on behalf of Greg Snow, Snow & Co, Wickepin, who wasn't able to attend the sale due to being on the Gold Coast.
Mr Miller said the Snow family were keen to purchase young Merino ewes for their prime lamb enterprise, as the ewes will be mated to Poll Dorset rams later in the year.
"Greg wanted some well-grown ewes with a good frame that still cut plenty of wool," Mr Miller said.
"He still wants younger, top quality ewes to not only get five or six lambs out of them, but five or six fleeces off them too."
The rest of the Talbots' ewes sold for similar values, with their 481 2.5yo going to Elders Perth, on behalf of Hillsea Grazing, Wellstead, for $116, while the 428 3.5yo females were sold to Marshland Farming, Williams, for $91.
The 407 4.5yo ewes made the same money after RL Cake & Co, Gairdner, purchased them, while the 138 mixed age (1.5-5.5yo) nucleus breeding ewes pulled a high value of $106 when ML & CB Talbot, Wickepin, placed the final bid.
From there, the crowd moved on to the third and final stop at the Wickepin saleyards.
Most of the line-up consisted of 1.5yo Merino ewes from an array of local vendors, with only three lines of 5.5yo ewes to round out the Wickepin offering.
The top price came when Elders Boyup Brook agent Peter Forrest, who was buying on behalf of Peter Johnston, MM & MJ Johnston, Boyup Brook, became the losing bidder on an exceptional line of 334 1.5yo ewes from GT & B Poultney.
He was outbid by Andrew and Jeremy James, BW James & Sons, Hyden, who secured the Strath-Haddon blood ewes for $132.
Determined not to miss out on quality again, Mr Forrest went hard on a pen of 219 large-framed Wallinar blood, 1.5yo ewes offered by Trevor and Leon Morgan, AT & D Morgan, Lake Grace, and secured them for the Wickepin top price of $135.
Mr Forrest said the Johnstons bought a load of Merino ewes at the sale every year to boost their breeding numbers, which were then joined to Poll Dorset rams for prime lamb production.
Other young ewes making solid prices included 234 Nepowie blood from Jensen Holdings, which kicked off the Wickepin leg with a bang when they were also sold to the James brothers, BW James & Sons, Hyden for $120.
ML & HI Gooding offered 272 East Mundalla blood ewes of the same age and these were purchased by PR Adams, Mt Barker, for $110, while WF & RA Lloyd's 115 ewes of the same age and bloodline attracted the same price tag paid by Primaries.
J & L MacDonald put together a pen of 102 1.5yo ewes of East Mundalla bloodlines which also sold to PR Adams, Mt Barker, for $103.
Landmark Wickepin purchased 186 young ewes of Leovale bloodlines for $105 after they were offered by IR & SJ King.
The previously mentioned WF & RA Lloyd's 144 5.5yo August shorn ewes also attracted interest and were bought for $89, while the other line of 199 5.5yo ewes from Jensen Holdings was purchased for $85.
IB & J Orr offered the only line of 283 5.5yo F1/F2 Prime SAMM ewes of Tiarri blood which were purchased for $85.
