PENNSYLVANIA FURNACE, Pa. — Sheep and goat producers earned nearly $55,000 for top-quality sheep and goats at the 36th annual Performance Tested Ram Lamb and Meat Goat Buck Sale Aug. 2.
The sale was held at the Pennsylvania Livestock Evaluation Center in Pennsylvania Furnace, Centre County. Producers sold 113 sheep and goats.
Performance test first
Top males were selected after 77-day ram and 70-day buck performance tests. The tests evaluated growth, average daily gain, muscling and fat deposition.
Forty-one performance tested rams averaged $531, and 25 tested bucks averaged $536. Select females also sold, with 32 consignment ewes averaging $451 and 15 does averaging $341.
Sale topper
The top-selling buck was consigned by Nix Besser Farm of Narvon, Lancaster County, and sold for $1,700 to Isaac Winand of New Oxford, Adams County.
The second-highest selling was consigned by Goldies Farms of Lisbon, N.Y., and sold for $1,650.
Two top-selling rams sold for $1,500: a Suffolk from Double Scott Farm of Princeton, W.Va., and purchased by Dale Wadel of Shippensburg, Franklin County, and a Dorper ram from Nix Besser Farm of Narvon, Lancaster County, sold to Circle K Farm of Bedford, Bedford County.
Flock improvement
All rams and bucks passed a breeding soundness exam and sold with growth and feed efficiency data as well as loin measurements and fat thicknesses obtained through ultrasound scan.
Breed averages
Suffolks were the highest-averaging rams, selling six animals for an $850 average.
Sale averages by breed are:
Ram lambs – Seven Dorsets averaged $475; six Suffolks averaged $850; six Texels averaged $608; five Dorpers averaged $715; six Katahdins averaged $300; four White Dorpers averaged $437; three Hampshires averaged $408. A Polypay sold for $450; a Shropshire, $300; a Merino, $300; and one crossbred, $300.
Meat goat bucks
Eleven full-blood senior Boers averaged $743, five full-blood junior Boers averaged $370, four purebred/percentage senior Boers averaged $425, two purebred/percentage junior Boers averaged $300 and three purebred Kikos averaged $358.
For more information on the sale or the performance test, contact Greg Hubbard at 814-238-2527 or ghubbard@pa.gov or visit www.livestockevaluationcenter.com.
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