The top bid for the 18-month-old ram overshadowed the $16,500 paid for another Collie Hills Suffolk — produced by Eric Ross and his son-in-law Wade Newlands — sold at the same Christchurch venue last year.
The successful syndicate is Chris, Annabelle and Elizabeth Hampton, of Waterton stud near Cave in South Canterbury, Anton and Will Gibson, of Dry Creek Suffolks near Middlemarch, and Bede McCloy, of Karendale stud near Yaldhurst. They were last year’s underbidders for the former record-holder.
Its successor, Collie Hills 81-21, is already sitting in a paddock at the Hampton family’s farm in Cave.
Chris Hampton said the partnership had been burnt once after missing out last year and was determined to buy the ram.
While the price tag seemed high, its attributes would generate a lot of value for the breeding group, he said.
‘‘We didn’t want to miss out on this one. They are both very similar rams, without seeing them together. They’ve both got their strong points and they both tick all the boxes, but I think this fella might be the better ram than last year’s one.’’
He said the ram was bred by a stud with the same principles as theirs — part of a large commercial operation with very good Sheep Improvement Ltd (SIL) figures.
‘‘So he’s got good computer figures, but good actual stuff as well.’’
The ram was a twin weaned at 40kg and in the autumn weighed 70kg when he was scanned with 29sqcm of eye muscle area.
Mr Hampton said the ram was a good example of the breed, structurally sound and walked well with a nice, clean shoulder, barrel and hindquarter.
The sire attracted multiple bidders with Suffolk breeders judging it second by popular vote before the sale.
Mr Hampton said the group formed a syndicate because it gave them the opportunity to buy genetics for a higher price than they could pay individually and allowed them to spread the risk.
‘‘He may end up over that period mating with a couple of hundred ewes and, hopefully, we are going to have some pretty handy lambs from him in the future. Looking though his pedigree, his father was the best ram that Eric [Ross] had, a 2019 ram that has bred on well.’’
He’s been booked into an artificial insemination centre to collect semen from him as an insurance policy.
The high-priced Suffolk wasn’t at the Christchurch show because Mr Ross was a judge this year.
It topped the catalogue at the elite sale, but sheep breeders believe it is just under the overall record ram price set by a southdown.
The Hamptons run a 816-hectare farm and lease a neighbouring block of about 130ha. They run a stud flock of about 450 purebred ewes from their Waterton Suffolks, South Suffolks and Charollais with 140 stud and commercial rams sold each year.
Mr Hampton’s late father, Peter, founded the Waterton South Suffolk stud in 1960 while farming at Ashburton. Six Suffolk ewes were from Australia in 1970 as the foundation for a Suffolk stud, while the first Charollais started from imported embryos in 2012.
They also have a commercial flock of 2700 Perendale ewes, 140 Angus cows, 130 Friesian bulls as well as fattening all the Angus calves.
Normally they try to finish all their lambs as well, but this year will change the system with their first on-farm lamb sale on January 17.
Mr Hampton said they wanted to look after their capital stock better as it was too hard to push a stud stock operation and finish lambs on the breeding property.
‘‘It’s a major change and we’re a wee bit nervous that we will be playing the market and it all depends on if it rains, what the store market is doing and whether people will turn up on the day and how much money they will want to spend. But we hope that we can attract buyers because of the genetics they are going to get in the lambs and we’re confident they won’t be disappointed in the animals they buy.’’
The catalogue will include about 1500 terminal sire lambs from Perendales crossed with Suffolk, South Suffolk and Charollais rams from the three studs and 1000 Perendale cryptorchids.
