The Stratford family, Ron and Pam (retired), sons and daughter-in-laws Gordon and Leonie, and Darrell and Rena, and grandsons Sean and Luke, topped the sheep market at Midland last week when they sold 172 Merino lambs for $100 per head. A further 51 head sold for $94.50.

The second draft sold at Midland on Tuesday this week resulted in an even better price of $110 for 133 White Suffolk cross lambs and $102 for 118 Merino wether lambs.

This was a great achievement for the Stratfords. Ron has always been passionate about breeding sheep, a passion he did his best to instill in sons Gordon and Darrell.

“It’s nice to be finally getting rewarded for our hard work,” Gordon said.

The June drop lambs had been grazed on lupin stubbles prior to sale and averaged 54kg.

The Stratfords mate 4200 ewes, half to terminal sires and the other half to Merinos.

They used to breed 5500 ewes, but Gordon said they cut down and still didn’t have enough room on their property for the numbers they had. They were agisting some on neighbouring paddocks.

The family crops 65-70 per cent of the farm and although the cropping still comes out on top in the profit margins, Gordon and Leonie said sheep had definitely been moving up the ranks in the last few years, but it was hard to put a figure on the role they played in weed control.

Gordon said in the past they would hold on to their wethers to get another fleece from them, but the pressure of the seasons and mediocre wool prices pushed them to change their selling pattern.

They have not neglected wool quality, however, selling 174 bales of fleece wool this year at an average of 21.2 micron and 64.1pc yield.

“You have to be passionate about wool, but we’re also chasing that bigger frame, we want big lambs,” Gordon said.