When you select your new White Suffolks from Detpa Grove this year, you can rest assured they will adapt to any environment.
Detpa Grove principal David Pipkorn has sold sheep to all Australian states, into New Zealand, the US and China.
“All these markets have appreciated the tremendous growth, high meat yield, good constitutions and balanced structure – all traits contributing to our sheep thriving in a wide array of climates and production systems,” he said.
“This includes the extremes of 45 degrees in Australia through to minus 30 degrees in Mongolia and the oxygen thin environment of 3.6km above sea level in Tibet.
“And ranges from the intensive handling and shedding of sheep in those extreme cold temperatures to large scale commercial operations here in Australia with thousands of ewes producing prime lambs.”
This adaptability has helped this year’s spring sale stock, which have had to face particularly tough weather conditions at Depta Grove.
“The flock rams are kicking on and looking great as usual despite the dry season. Meanwhile all of our ewes got through the recent dry time without grain feeding,” David said.
The dry hasn’t hindered the ewe’s performance either; “We have also had an impressive fecundity display during lambing this year, with 55 sets of triplets in the first 600 lambs born,” David added.
“Things are starting to look up, we have been able to ease off the hay feeding, and it is encouraging to see lamb prices back on the upward trend.
“All indicators are for a strong and healthy outlook for lamb in the spring.”
Detpa Grove will offer 250 White Suffolk rams and ewes at their 36th Annual On-Property Sale, including stud ewes, stud rams, specially selected rams and flock rams.
This will once again feature progeny of homebred super sires Detpa Grove REGAL 200477 and Detpa Grove NOBLE 180374, along with artificial insemination sire Ella Matta 210270.
EM 210270 has been the leading Lambplan ram in the country, and currently has Australian Sheep Breeding Values in the top one per cent for post weaning weight, lambing ease direct and shearforce, as well as its Terminal Carcase Production Index (164.92).
“We handpicked 17 rams for this drop and target mated them, including Ella Matta 210270, who we used carefully over a number of ewes,” David said.
“The challenge for me is keeping everything balanced while improving key traits simultaneously. Growth is king and we are seeing that here with lambs being weaned at three and a half months reaching 74kg, and that has been achieved with just grass and milk.”
Eating quality is another of the traits considered in the balance at Detpa Grove, and again this year there will be rams by high eating quality sire Yanco 200156 on offer.
The sire is in the top 1% on Lambplan for both intramuscular fat and shearforce.
“He has a very high intramuscular fat and extremely tender meat – we are not pushing to breed Wagyu sheep, we just want to make sure the consumer doesn’t get a bad experience because generally, lamb is very very good,” David said.
Last year, Detpa Grove cleared 206 lots at auction, with stud rams topping at $12,500, flock rams to $2200, and the total sale averaging $1723.
The 2024 Detpa Grove Annual On-Property Sale will be conducted at 961 Lorquon Rd, Jeparit, Victoria, as well as being interfaced with AuctionsPlus.
Inspections will be available from 10am sale day, with ewes starting at 11.30am and rams at 1pm.
The Pipkorn family welcome valued clients, friends and supporters to their Annual On-Property Sale
