About 40 sheep were offered in a catalogue which included 12 ewe lambs, eight two-tooth ewes and 10 mixed-age ewes, seven two-tooth rams and two mixed age rams.
By the final bid about three quarters of the sheep were sold for a good clearance.
The best sale of $700 for a Merino grey ram was sold by Middlemarch breeder Will Gibson to Pleasant Point’s Lisa Zwarts. Waimate breeders Stuart and Sue Albrey sold the top-priced coloured Romney ewe for $450, to Wairarapa’s Wendy Allison.
Among the breeds were Merino, Polwarth, Romney and Gotland sheep from Middlemarch, Gore, Waimate and Geraldine.
Their wool ranged from the early-20 microns for the Merinos with the Polwarths in the late-20s and the Romneys in the mid-30s.
"There’s probably 25 to 30 of them going to the North Island and that’s new for us.
"That includes the top price ewe going to Wairarapa.
"A Romney ram making about $450 is going to Feilding and the prices were good.
"I think we were really lucky the North Islanders wanted good quality sheep."
She said mainly Romneys were sold, followed by Polwarths and buyers seemed to be going for stronger micron sheep at the moment.
The Geraldine breeder said demand for coloured wool appeared to have increased for spinning and handcrafts.
She said the offering was much the same as last year with some "very nice" stock.
Initially it was believed lifestyle block owners might provide most of the buying punch, but that was shadowed by North Island buyers and existing breeders.
Ms Sanders’ non-registered stud Lowlands has about 30 Merino and Romney ewes at a 3ha lifestyle block in Geraldine.
While some breeders were involved in raising sheep and wool spinning or knitting, she preferred to concentrate on stock work.
She was happy after selling five out of six sheep she offered.
Nearly 30 people turned up for an open day discussing the pros and cons of registered sheep, held after the auction at the Albreys’ farm near Waimate.
