General News
28 October, 2025
Price record set by ram
Detpa Grove continued to cement itself as a leading White Suffolk stud in the country when it set an on-property ram price record of $60,000.
But the real proof in the Pipkorn family’s program was that a total of 30 stud rams sold to buyers in five states and averaged $9700, with 11 of the lots selling for $10,000 or more.
This was an increase from last year’s offering, where 20 rams were sold for stud duties for an average of $4825.
Principal David Pipkorn said there were a lot of high-profile studs from across the country in attendance at their annual on-property sale this year.
“They were appreciating the high-performance genetics that were built into the sound structure and good breed type of our sheep,” he said.
These attributes culminated in Lot 70, Detpa Grove 240715, the $60,000 sale-topping sire.
By Ashmore 221308, the ram was a July 2024 drop-out of an ET ewe lamb.
It had an Australian Sheep Breeding Value Terminal Carcase Production Index of 181, putting it at number eight in the country across all terminal breeds.
The ram is in the top five per cent for post-weaning weight, carcase weight, lean meat yield, shear force and post-weaning eye muscle depth ASBVs.
“The ram was structurally very correct and had tremendous breed type, on a moderate frame,” David said.
“We flush our most advanced ewe lambs each year, and this ram came out of that program.
“It is also a three-quarter brother to our keeper ram this year, Detpa Grove 'LEGEND' 240725.”
LOT 70 was purchased by a five-state syndicate, including Valma, Whitemore, and Rangeview, Pipers River, both in Tasmania; Days Whiteface, Bordertown and Mullinger Park, Kybybolite, both in South Australia; Cheetara, South Kumminin, Western Australia and Kinellar, Canowindra, NSW.
Other stud sales included the first ram in the offering, Lot 69, purchased for $24,000 by Golden Hill stud, Kukerin, WA, with fellow WA stud Kohat, Ongerup, taking a semen share.
The ram, DP240144, was also by the Ashmore 221308 sire and had a TCP of 173 and already has lambs on the ground at Detpa Grove.
Wakeleigh White Suffolks, Cavendish, Vic, paid $17,000 for their new sire, a ram with a big PWWT of 20.5, while Camborn stud at Pooncarie paid $16,000 for their pick of the catalogue and Sunnydale stud, Rupanyup, paid $15,000 for a full ET sibling to Detpa Grove’s keeper ram.