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2021 Montana Ram and Ewe Sale Results

The 96th annual Montana Ram and Ewe Sales were held Sept. 15 and 16 in Miles City. Sheep offered included 883 commercial ewes, and 295 range-ready rams from consignors across Montana.

Successful bidders hauled sheep home across Montana and into Wyoming, South Dakota, North Dakota, Idaho, Washington, Oregon, California, Utah and Texas.

The Montana Wool Growers Association would like to extend a big thank you to all buyers and bidders.

Please plan to attend the 97th Annual MT Ram Sale and the 9th Annual Montana Ewe Sale on Sept. 14 and 15, 2022, also in Miles City.

96th annual Ram Sale Summary:

A donation ram, offered by the Ortmann Family of Wolf Point, started the 96th Annual Montana Ram Sale. The Targhee buck was offered in Memory of the late Heinrich Ortmann, who consigned rams to the Montana Ram Sale for 48 years. Contributors gave nearly $4,000 in his memory, with funds being used to support the building of the new Montana Wool Lab at Montana State.

Auctioneers Collin Gibbs and Kyle Shobe kept the sale moving, selling 295 rams for an overall average of $1,843, up from $1,542 in 2020.

The Targhee sale average was $1,859 on 209 head. The high selling ram overall, was a Targhee consigned by Skull Creek Targhee of Brockway, MT.

The buck sold for $12,000 to Turner Sheep Company of Gillette Wyoming. Five Targhee lots sold for $5,000/hd or more.

Rambouillet bucks sold very well, with an overall average of $2,114 on 51 head, more than $400/head higher than last year. Helle Rambouillet of Dillon had the top selling buck, purchased for $3,500 by the University of Wyoming.

Suffolk, Hampshire, and crossbred bucks showed high demand. The overall blackface average was $1,352, compared to $891/head in 2020.

Dawe Suffolks of Big Timber topped the blackface portion of the sale again this year. Dawe sold two lots for $2,000 each, one purchased by Garrett Cunningham of Broadus, MT, and another selling to Arnold Mader of Biddle, MT.

Sale Gross on 295 rams: $543,600

• Targhee ram average on 209 head: $1,859 (Low $500, High $12,000).

• Rambouillet ram average on 41 head: $2,032 (Low $1000, $3,100)

• Rambouillet Cross ram average on 10 head: $2,450 (Low $1,700, High $3,500)

• Suffolk ram average on 16 head: $1489 (Low $1,100, High $2,000)

• Suffolk X Hampshire ram average on 16 head: $1,363 (Low $1,000, High 1,700)

• Hampshire Ram average on 3 head: $583 (Low $350, High $900)

8th Annual Montana Ewe Sale

The ewe sale kicked off with a donation ewe, donated by John and Betty Sampsel of Hughes

Newford Co, of Stanford, MT. The yearling Targhee ewe raised $1,150 towards scholarships to send young producers to MWGA and sheep industry events.

The ewe sale offered 883 head, with 383 ewes on-site and 500 offsite. Cal and Julie Ward, of Sheridan, MT, topped the sale, selling their pen of 10 Targhee ewes for $600/head, to Chip Dye

of Alzada, MT. The volume buyer of the on-site lots was Bill Schaeffer, of Hoven, SD, taking

home 49 head. The volume off-site buyers were Casey Earl of Lewiston, UT, purchasing 300

head of Helle Rambouillet yearling ewes, and Duane White of Circle, MT, taking home 200 head

of Lehfeldt Rambouillet yearling ewes.

Sale Gross on 883 Ewes: $331,550

• Total sale average on all ewes: $375/hd

• Whiteface yearling ewe average on 868 head: $376/hd

• Blackface ewe lamb average on 15 head: $367/hd

• Average on pens of 10: $387/hd

• Average on pens of 20: $363/hd

• Average on off-site lots: $375/hd

 

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