Passings heavy at stud ram fair

Press, 26 January 1979, Page 14

Passings heavy at stud ram fair

Mutton-breed sheep met a very spasmodic demand on the opening day of the Canterbury Agricultural and Pastoral Association’s stud ram fair at the Addington Showground yesterday. A handful of the ton sheep—notably in the Dorset Down sec-tion-sold into the four figures, but otherwise the fair was marked by a succession of passings. However, it was perhaps ironical that in spite of this lack of activity at auction, there was i reeular business around the pens later. The fair was probably at some : disadvantage, as some of the;; mutton-breed societies have J n I readv had their South Island or national sales. Consequently •. where these breeds are con- 1 remed. the Canterbury fair has ’ lost its ranking. i In spite of the disappointing clearances, however, the fair did < have a brief highlight One of j 5 several rams from D. O. Maae- ’ (Goughs Bavi was sold for;! $3OOO after a spirited bidding ■ duel, bidding having opened at $7OO. It was a new New Zealand i record and. according to stud 1 stock men. also a new world re- < cord for the breed. < The purchasers were a partner- j Bhin comprising S M. Stewart I and A. M. Turnbull. t For Dorset Down breeders, the I fair was their national sale, but I anart from a few top sheep, itlc must rank as one of their poor- It est. ; s Of 36 offered in the first run, t 13 were sold at auction, but de- r mand petered out in the second

run. when only three out of 23 lots were sold. For the 16 sold, the average was $B5O, compared with $737 for 21 sold last year. But for the Masefield rams, it would have been distinctly lower. As well as the $3OOO ram, D. O. Masefield sold a sheep for $2300 to an Otago partnership 1 comprising W. Bain. 11. G. McLachlan and Fletcher Bros. From his consignment of eight. H. Dalziel. of Waipara. had a sale at $l6OO to the Wrightson NMA of Nelson, as agent, and another to a Wai mate partnership at $l4OO. Another ram was sold for $5OO to give an average of $1166. R. J. Letham (Lauriston). sold ;a rain at $BOO to A. P. Smith and Son. of Rangiora. but other sales were usually in the $3OO to $4OO range. South-Suffolk rams had the best clearance of the day. 18 of the 39 offered being sold in the ring. They produced an average of 5522. compared with $446.50 for 14 sold last year. H. C. Vanstone, of Little River, who gained top price at the national South-Suffolk sale recently, again beaded the price list with a sheep to A. J. Prouting, of Annat. for $l5OO. Three other Little River rams fetched $4OO to give a respectable average of $675. Mr Vanstone was in the buyer's role a little later when he bid $lOOO for a single sheep from S. J. Sinclair, of Ashburton, on behalf of the Little Lynn partnership, of Little River. Other South-Suffolk sales in-

) eluded one from F. J. Amos 'Ashburton), to C. Perry (Southj land>. at S 800; one from A. J. • Prouting to J. A. Brown (Winch- > more), at $750; and one from J. > A. Brown to the New Zealand Farmers’ (Richmond), as agents, for $750 Suffolk rams had a very low j clearance. From the entry of 26. . only nine were sold in the ring, the average being $433. This was a marked drop on last year, ’ when 11 of 25 rams offered aver-1 j. aged $654.50. I Hampshire ranis had very lim-j . ited inquiry. From the offering) : of 29. only eight were sold at. , auction. They average $575. a use-! ful improvement on last year; I when nin e of 18 lots averaged I $467. , The first lot into the ring i topped the section. From Mrs N. M. Allan, of Ashburton, it was sold to R. F. Gould, of PleaI sant Point for $llOO. J. W. and C. G. Anderson (Dar- : field) sold a ram to Mrs R. A. Phillips, of Hastings, for $7OO, and D. S. Crosson (Rakaia) received the same price from R. ’ Maxwell (Feilding). Eleven Southdown rams were offered but only two were sold at auction, and the prices were very low, $350 and $250 respectively. Stud ewes, particularly the Suffolk and South Suffolks, also had a low clearance, but it appeared that vendors’ reserves were running above what buyers were prepared to pay. H. Dalziel obtained top price in the Dorset Down section with a pen of two at $3lO. He sold two other pairs at $l9O, and for 17 his average was $l4O. D. O. Masefield sold a single ewe at $250, and seven others at $7O to $BO. P. J. Hampton (Waterton), gained top price of $lOO for a pen of three in the South Suffolk section, and Suffolk ewes sold to $l2O for a pen of three from D. and M. Stowell (Ashburton). The same vendors also had another sale of three at $llO.