Rural Livestock agent Dennis Mullally said there was a full clearance of about 11,000 halfbred ewes at Beaumont Station last week.
Beaumont Station owners Richard and Abby Hore and their family have been breeding halfbred sheep for more than 50 years.
‘‘They were a magnificent line of ewes,’’ Mr Mullally said.
The three-shear ewes made $173 per head, four-shear ewes $161, five-shear $131 and sixshear $119.
Ewes were bought by farmers in Middlemarch, Queenstown and Tekapo.
Reasons for the Hores selling their capital ewes included a change in farming practices, such as planting forestry on ‘‘rougher’’ parts of Beaumont Station, Mr Mullally said.
Crossbred sheep would be run on the better country on the station.
The Hores bought some Romdale ewes at the first Glen Islay dispersal sale in Mandeville last week, Mr Mullally said.
Online auction platform bidr shows prices paid at Glen Islay include top-cut two-tooth ewes fetching up to $245 a head, fourtooth ewes up to $242 per head, six-tooth ewes up to $194 per head and eight-tooth ewes up to $188 per head.
Another full clearance was the more than 1300 ewes on offer at Blue Gum Ltd in Otahuti, Southland.
A lot of nearly 400 Tefrom and Romney-cross ewes sold for $186 per head.
About 1500 merino ewes and more than 5000 merino lambs were on offer at the annual back-to-back sales at Galloway Station, Little Valley Station, Matangi Station and Olrig Station in Central Otago last week.
Olrig Station owner Elliot Heckler, of Galloway, offered more than 3000 lambs and all of them sold.
The average lamb price was more than $130 per head, up at least $50 on the average price last year.
‘‘It shows there’s quite a bit more confidence back in the farming sector,’’ Mr Heckler said.
Buyers were from Canterbury, Dunback, Macraes and Maniototo.
PGG Wrightson auctioneer Mark Yeates, of North Otago, said the prices at the Omarama ewe sale were ‘‘significantly stronger’’ than last year.
More than 7000 ewes were on offer at the sale last week.
The top 5-year-old merino ewes sold for between $146 and $151 per head.
Prices for 6-year-old merino ewes were between $133 and $145, up from an average price of about $80 last year.
The medium cut of merino ewes sold for between $110 and $120 per head.
Lighter merino ewes sold for about $90 each and annual draft ewes sold for between $80 and $87.
Demand was limited for the three lines of halfbred ewes on offer, Mr Yeates said.
PGG Wrightson lower South Island livestock genetics rep Callum McDonald said there was a full clearance at the ewe dispersal sale of Crest and Klifden stud owners Robert and Rosemary Gardyne at Charlton Saleyards near Gore last week.
The prices of about 550 ewes ranged between $200 and $375 per head.
All of the ewes were bought by stud breeders, including some in the North Island.
The high clearance rates at sales in the South were positive considering the number of sheep on offer in the South.
‘‘They’re all finding homes, which just shows people are investing back in sheep,’’ Mr McDonald said.
