Nineteen-year-old Piper Williams paid a record price for a Charollais ewe at the Cold Water Creek Charollais Ram sale, interfaced with AuctionsPlus, last week.
Miss Williams, from Windellama, NSW, had set her sights on purchasing all of the ewes offered at the sale, but had to adjust her expectations when the competition heated up.
An online bidder from Victoria proved tough competition, until Miss Williams secured the successful bid of $7850.
The previous record Charollais ewe record was set in October 2023, when a Rene stud ewe was purchased for $5500 by Duxton Farms, Condobolin.
Prior to that Cold Water Creek Charollais held the record, with a ewe and lamb unit in 2021 selling for $5000, purchased by Vortex White Suffolk and Charollais stud, Benalla, Victoria.
Stud owner Matt Bright was pleased to regain the title "by a long way".
Sale agent Will Cain from JJ Dresser & Co said to Mr Bright's credit, the ewe was very well put together and all the sheep were well prepared.
"The feeling on the day was he had a very good quality of stock there and people were willing to pay the money for the quality," he said.
Miss Williams with the top priced ewe from the Cold Water Creek Charollais sale. Pic: Supplied
Miss Williams has bought the two top priced rams from Mr Bright in the past two years.
Mr Bright has been breeding Charollais sheep for about 10 years - a decision he made because he was breeding Charolais cattle - but he said it was only know that they were starting to increase in popularity in Australia.
"They are easy lambing and they grow, they have a great hind quarter," he said.
Miss Williams agrees.
It is the the quick maturing of the lambs that has attracted the young farmer's admiration.
Miss Williams has been steadily building her Charollais flock since 2020, when she took over the management of her family’s 3000-acre property, Lawson, which runs around 4000 sheep.
"What I’ve noticed over the past couple of years is the Charollais crosses mature a lot quicker than the Suffolk does, and it’s such a nice meat lamb," she explained.
Currently managing around 30 Charollais sheep, with plans afoot to launch the Lawson Park Charollais Stud. Her father, Mark Williams, supports her in a part-time capacity when not working away as a shearer.
Reflecting on the sale, Miss Williams described the bidding process as exhilarating but intense. "As we were bidding, the numbers kept climbing higher and higher. It was pretty exciting—I wasn’t expecting it to be so high,” she said.
The record-breaking ewe will now play a pivotal role in her breeding program, focusing on producing quality genetics for future ewes and rams. For now, there are no plans for embryo work, as Miss Williams looks forward to seeing the natural progression of her herd.
