Courtesy of Andrew Miller, Stock & Land

Hosted online through AuctionsPlus, the Australasian Dorset Championships online ram sale hit a $23,250 top and averaged $7102 for 22 rams sold of the 29.

Rangeview stud principal Will Milroy, Pipers River, Tasmania, said he was very surprised at the $23,250 top price he achieved.

"Last year, I had a very good sale, so to top it off and go over and beyond was really great," Mr Milroy said.

Rangeview 200208, which sold to South Australian stud Mullinger Park, was described in the catalogue as a structurally-correct ram but moderate in size.

"He is well put together and hard to fault when it comes to his meat qualities," Mr Milroy said.

The August 2020-drop ram was sired by Valma 180063, out of Penrise 170110.

Described as being thick and stylish, with a great outlook, the ram was from a low birth weight sire, with positive fat and very good post-weaning eye muscle depth figures.

Rangeview 200208 had Australian Sheep Breeding Values (ASBVs) of 0.13 for birth weight, 8.08 for weaning weight and 13.7 for post-weaning weight.

His post-weaning eye muscle depth was 4.04, his post-weaning fat was 0.67 and he had a terminal carcase production index of 144.38.

Mr Milroy said the sale rams had faced a very wet season, but it hadn't affected them.

"To be honest, it's been a very challenging year with strange weather patterns - we just keep getting 10-25mm of rain each week," he said.

The bidding took him by surprise.

"I had a few inquiries, but nothing out of the ordinary," he said. "When he hit the $20,000 mark, my heart started pounding.

"It's a great time to be in the lamb sector and we are reaping the rewards through our flock ram sales."

Mr Milroy sold five of the six rams he had for sale for an impressive $11,700 average.

The second top-priced ram was Sunnybanks 20037 sold for $17,500 by Paul Day's Penguin based Sunnybanks stud, Tasmania.

New South Wales based Abelene Park Poll Dorsets, Woolomin, sold all three rams they offered for a $7083 average, and a $10,000 top for Abelene Park 17-20.