Montana Ram and Ewe Sale posts results
Miles City, Mont. – On Sept. 13-14, the Montana Wool Growers Association (MWGA) hosted their annual Montana Ram and Ewe Sale at the Eastern Montana Fairgrounds.
The sale offered 1,200 head of commercial ewes and 277 rams from consignors across Montana. Buyers hauled sheep home to Wyoming, North Dakota, Missouri, South Dakota, Utah, Kansas, California and Montana.
“We would like to extend a big thank you to all buyers and bidders of both sales,” wrote MWGA in a Sept. 18 press release. “Thank you to Lewistown Livestock, Inc. for clerking and sale management and Sam Fraser of Frontier Productions, LLC for the online catalog and online sale hosting. Thank you Auctioneers Collin Gibbs and Kyle Shobe for another year of great teamwork from the auction block.”
10th Annual Montana Ewe Sale
The sale kicked off with MWGA’s 10th Annual Montana Ewe Sale on Sept. 13. A total of 1,027 ewes sold for an overall average of $303 head. The sale grossed $309,455.
John and Betty Sampsel, owners of Hughes Newford Company of Stanford, Mont., donated a yearling Targhee ewe at the beginning of the sale.
The proceeds from the donation were collected to support young producers in Montana who plan to attend industry schools and events in coming years. Together, six donors raised $3,400 for the cause.
During the sale, 10 head of black-faced ewes averaged $392, and 30 head of hair ewe lambs averaged $283.
White-faced yearling ewes averaged $313 on 915 head, and 68 white-faced ewe lambs averaged $151.
The high-selling Targhee yearlings sold for $500 per head.
This included 10 head, consigned by the Roeder family of Montana Sheep Company and purchased by Alexander Maus of Sentinel Butte, N.D, as well as 20 head offered by Wynn and Jeff Tauck, which sold to Nathan Weaver of Hettinger, N.D.
Bill Schaefer from Hoven, S.D. purchased 38 head on the grounds, and the volume off-site buyer was Five-0 Ranch of Lodi, Calif., purchasing 225 Helle Rambouillet yearling ewes from Dillon, Mont.
98th Annual Montana Ram Sale
On Sept. 14, MWGA held their 98th Annual Montana Ram Sale, which offered a total of 277 bucks that sold for an overall average of $1,485 per head, up from $1,275 in 2022. The ram sale grossed $411,400.
The black-faced breeds averaged $1,161 on 35 head, compared to $1,157 in 2022.
Four rams topped the black-faced portion of the sale at $1,700 – two rams from Dawe Suffolks of Big Timber, Mont. went to Bauer Land and Livestock of Clearmont, and two rams from Heart Lazy P of Miles City went to Steadman Targhees, also located in Miles City.
Rambouillet rams sold for an overall average of $1,354 on 57 head, up slightly from $1,261 in 2022. Helle Rambouillet of Dillon, Mont. had the top selling Rambouillets – a pen of two, purchased for $2,600 each by the Sieben Ranch of Helena, Mont.
The Targhee sale average was $1,587 on 185 head.
The overall high-selling rams were a pen of two Targhees, offered by Sampsel Livestock of Stanford, Mont. The pen sold to Kristi Bohlander of Douglas for $8,000 each.
Five Targhee lots sold for $4,000 per head or higher.
The MWGA invites the public to attend the 11th Annual Montana Ewe Sale and 99th Annual Montana Ram Sale Sept. 11-12, 2024 in Miles City.
Hannah Bugas is the managing editor of the Wyoming Livestock Roundup. Send comments on this article to roundup@wylr.net.
