Suffolk ewe lamb sale prices top expectations

Top ewe lambs were offered for sale at the Loffhagen family's farm near Hawarden during the 2018 National Suffolk Tour. Photo / Supplied

Bidding exceeded expectations with a top price of $2700 at the recent inaugural Suffolk ewe lamb sale at Tawhai Stud, near Hawarden.

The sale was held in conjunction with the 2018 National Suffolk Tour hosted by the Northern South Island Suffolk Breeders Club.

It attracted a large number of tour participants and buyers, including some from the US and Australia.

The sale, the brainchild of Penni Loffhagen and Rocci Scott, was created to give stud breeders the chance to buy new bloodlines which otherwise would rarely be available.

''We could see a need for people to be able to buy stud ewes and approached stud breeders with the idea of having an on-farm sale at our place during the Suffolk tour,'' Ms Loffhagen said

The response was enthusiastic and 24 ewe lambs were offered from 16 different studs from Cave to Nelson.

The lambs were collected in January and grazed together as one mob at Ms Loffhagen's farm.

Each month, the lambs were weighed and eye muscle scanned to provide comprehensive data to potential buyers.

Ms Loffhagen and Mr Scott organised Vetlife to sponsor a few prizes to be presented at the sale.

The prize for largest eye muscle area ratio went to Charlie Miller-Brown and Emma Simpson, of Amberley, largest daily weight gain went to Ms Loffhagen's Tawhai Suffolk Stud and the largest eye muscle went to Stockwell Stud in Christchurch.

Ms Loffhagen said a catalogue was produced with photos of each lamb, along with its credentials.

The sale was held on the second day of the three-day tour and attracted 80 buyers, including telephone bidders.

The top-priced lamb come from a North Island stud and the average price across the sale was $1180.

Lambs were sold to studs across New Zealand.

Ms Loffhagen said they were blown away by the prices.

''They all went to stud breeders and the nice thing was there were some new people just starting out, so it was a great opportunity to buy good lambs in top order with great bloodlines.''