Inquiry at low ebb at start of flock ram fair

Press, Volume CXIV, Issue 33454, 8 February 1974, Page 12

Inquiry at low ebb at start of flock ram fair

For mutton breed rams demand was weak, at auction when the Canterbury flock ram fair began at the Show Grounds at Addington yesterday.

Out of 1155 rams of : seven breeds offered only • 356, or less than 31 per j cent, were sold during the sale. This was a further reduc- ; jtion of between 27 and 28 Iper cent on the 490 sheep of’< six breeds sold at last year’s I fair. ' p In the Dorset Down sec- ; tion, for instance, only 26 ■ were sold out of 201, and in the section with the biggest • number of entries — the i Southdowns — only 176 rams , were sold out of 539. But there were some ex- , ceptions to this trend. Twenty-five out of 38 Suffolks found a new home at I. auction, and almost half of h the Poll Dorsets were sold' in this manner. Most averages up In most sections the aver-;. | age level of prices for those ! ; rams sold improved on last I

year. Though only 30 were sold out of 101, South Suffolk prices were up by 34 per cent. Southdowns,' Poll Dorsets and South Dorset Downs all gained between 4 and 5 per cent on last year’s! fair, and the Suffolks, of I which there was a better! clearance than for any other I |breed, were up fractionally! on last year’s fair when only) a smal* number of sheep of: this breed were sold. For; Dorset Downs the average! was similar to last year, but! the four Hampshires sold set I an average some 30 per cent! below the figure for a similar! number of the breed last! year. Not unnaturally, when the ! sheep industry is still in a very I prosperous state, there was some ! discussion in the selling pavilion as to why the inquiry at this (fair should be declining. There was talk of increasing private I selling and of the sale clashing 'with harvest and being too early, but one observer suggested that | it was simply a matter of supply and demand—in the last six years the number of stud flocks! of 14 breeds administered bt the New Zealand Sheepbreeders’ Association has increased byi more than 60 per cent while! national ewe flock numbers havej lately been static or tending; downwards. ; Still another vendor of longstanding at the fair said that one( factor that overshadowed alb I other factors was the climate and ■ ' ( the feed situation. If feed was plentiful there was a strong inquiry. If it was not, demand I was more restricted. And in ! recent years feed has been short ' more often than not. ' There was quite a range n> the standard of the offering yesterday and some part of tills . could be put down to continuing , I dry conditions with sheep not • ( having been adequately fed. DULL SALE The Southdown sale was a dull 1 one. At times the gailerv follow- ’ ing the sale comprised almost exclusively vendors and stock agents and towards the end a ; frustrated auctioneer exclaimed: , “Is anyone interested or do we ! stop selling?” Earlier another I described the sale as “an auctioneer’s nightmare.” Interest was certainly at a low ! ebb. In the first run of the sale only 113 rams out of 311, or , 36J per cent, found a buyer at [ auction, and in the second run the percentage of sales made dropped to 27J per cent—63 being sold out of 228. Over all 176 rams. 'lor just short of 33 per cent of the 539 rams offered were disposed of at auction. ! This put the sale in the cateI gory of being one of the poorest from the point of view of demand for years, but one vendor said he remembered that there had been worse. ; Last year 241 rams, or about 45 per cent of the offering, were sold at auction. Buyers again confined their . interest to the rams of only a handful of vendors — other! I vendors had a very poor day ( indeed. In some respects, however, the; ’ I sale was perhaps not quite as ! bad as it might have seemed. Some of the top vendors recorded ; a slightly better average price ■ than last year and the average price for the 176 rams sold at $37 was $1.50. or just over 4 per cent better than last year, when the average was also up on the previous year by $ll. In the first run of the sale the average for 113 rams was just under $37 and in the second run for 63 it was slightly in I excess of $37.50. I The top price of the day was! I $72.50 paid for three rams from ID. C. McMillan (Lochaber), Ltd iilrwelli. A year ago the same vendor headed the sale at $69. f P. J. and- H. C. Abbott, Ltd j : (Southbridge) also made to $67.50 with three. ’! But because of prolonged > droughty conditions the rams from some vendors, who have . ibeen to the fore at the fair in ' other years, were not up to their >I usual standard and were ; (neglected. > | The best of the rams in the 'i selection sold from about $6O to ’ I $72.50, with average to good at lis4o to $55 and others at $25 to ; I $37.50. I P. J. and H. C. Abbott. Ltd. headed the averages with 17 J rams making from $4O to $67.50 [ and averaging just under $54. This compared with their ’ average last year of $46 for 12. f T. E. M. Brooks (Brookside). with 24 rams selling from $35 i to $6O, averaged 847. His , average last year for 29 was 542. 5 D. C. McMillan (Lochaber), Ltd, - averaged $42 for 23 selling from t $27,50 to $72.50. Their average was the same last year for 27. r For 26 ranging in price from II $3O to $62.50 A. Zuppicich and r 'Sons (Prebbleton) averaged a little ; better than $3B. Last year for jl9 they averaged $43. A. W. Low -I (Methven) averaged just under r : $3B for four realising from $3O .Ito $55, and R. M. and G A. ( Petrie (Rangiora) had 12 rams r I making from $3O to $45 and aver|aging $35. J. A. Brown (Ashbur-

ton) sold 10 rams at the same price—s3o. DORSET DOWNS Dorset Down rams had a very poor sale. It was a case of no bid. no business for the largest part of the offering. From the' entry of 201, only 26 were sold at I auction. The average, at $37. was i the same as last year, when 89 of the 205 rams offered were i sold. D. O. Masefield, of Gough’s [ Bay. gained tile top price of; $57.50 lor a pen of two. and bis average for 10 was $43 R. T.' Masefield <Akaroa). sold six at $3l to $4(l, averaging $36, and A. J. H. Johnstone iCust), sold three at $37.50 to $4(l. POLL DORSET Poll Dorset rams had a slightly better sale although, as in other sections, the clearance was low.. From an entry of 39, 19 were) sold at auction for an average of almost $44. Last year only 13 of 52 offered found buyers at auction and the average was $42. S. L. and B. E. Chambers! (Southbridge), obtained the topi price of $9O lor a single ram, and another single sheen from! the same vendors fetched $6O. S. M. Boon (Dunsandel) sold six rams at $35 to $6O. averaging \ $45. and Beachcroft Stud (South-' bridge), sold eight at $3O toj $57.50. averaging $37. SOUTH DORSET DOWN South Dorset Down rams re-j turned a slightly better average.; but the clearance at auction was ! again lower. From the offering, of 217, 76. or little more than a I third, were sold under the ham-; I mer. and the average was $2B. | ! compared with $26.80 last year. ‘ The regular vendors. I. it. and N. M. Watson (Weedons), had a

! reasonably good sale on the day Thej sold 24 rams at $22.50 t<. $42.50, for an average of $31.50. Their best price, obtained for a single ram. was also the best price of the section, T. E. Jenkins (Sheffield*, sold 11 rams at $22.50 to $25. averaging $23.50; Mrs S. D McMillan I (Irwell), nine at $3O to *l5, averaging $33: and L. H. and (.’ R. Johnson (Dunsandel). 15 at $2O to $27.50, averaging $24.60. SUFFOLK Suffolks had the best clearance ! in the heavy Down breed section From the entry of 38. 25 were sold at auction for an average . of $3B. > This compared very well with [ last year when from an entry . of 42, onlv four were sold. ' Harlau Farm Ltd (Tfmaru), ob ; Stained the ton price of $l7O for a II well-grown well-presented sheep > Two other rams from the same (vendor fetched $7O and $65 rcjspectivelv, giving an average of f'more than $lOl. ■ The principal vendors were A. IG. and G. G. Harper <Ohoka'. who obtained a complete clear Jance at auction. Their 11 ram*, j ranged from $25 to $35 for an I average of almost $2B. SOUTH SUFFOLK •I South Suffolk rams showed * • general improvement of $lO a . head, but the clearance at auc j tion was low. From the entn of •101, 30 were sold for an average lof $37.30. Last vear 42 sold from Ilan offering of 117 averaged • j $27.75. M. J. Loffhagen (Culverden'. : gained the top price of $55 lor ) a pen of two. , For 16 rams ranging from $35 11 to $45, D. J. and J. Stewart <Ra Ikaia), obtained an average of Ijs4o. and 11. (’. Vanstone 'Little [ Riven, sold five at $35 to $5O, ■averaging $4l HAMPSHIRE i Hampshire rams received nominal inquiry. Only four of the • 120 rams offered were sold at auc- . tion for a modest average of $26 » Mrs G. M. llu«hes <Springston», '(Obtained the top price of $27.50 ii for a pen of two. ■ | At last year’s fair four of eight .(Hampshire rams were sold, and ton price was $6O. I The fair will be con'inued toi day with wool breed rams.