2023 Montana Ram and Ewe Sale Results

On September 13 and 14, Miles City hosted the Montana Ram and Ewe Sales at the Eastern Montana Fairgrounds.  The offering included over 1,200 commercial ewes, and 277 rams from consignors across Montana.  Buyers hauled sheep home to Wyoming, North Dakota, South Dakota, Utah, Kansas, California and across Montana. 

The Montana Wool Growers Association would like to extend a big thank you to all buyers and bidders of both sales.  Thank you to Lewistown Livestock Inc for clerking and sale management and Sam Fraser of Frontier Productions, LLC, for the online catalog and online sale hosting.  Thank you to our auctioneers, Collin Gibbs and Kyle Shobe, for another year of great teamwork from the auction block.

98^th Annual MT Ram Sale (September 14^th)

A total of 277 bucks were offered and sold, for an overall average of $1,485/hd, up from $1,275 in 2022. The ram sale grossed $411,400.

The blackface breeds averaged $1,161 on 35 head, compared to $1,157 in 2022. Four rams topped the blackface portion of the sale at $1,700. Two from Dawe Suffolks of Big Timber went to Bauer Land and Livestock of Clearmont, WY and two from Heart Lazy P of Miles City went to Steadman Targhees of Miles City, MT respectively.

Rambouillet rams sold for an overall average of $1,354 on 57 head, up slightly from $1,261 in 2022. Helle Rambouillet of Dillon had the top selling Rambouillets, a pen of 2, purchased for $2,600 each by the Sieben Ranch of Helena, MT.

The Targhee sale average was $1,587 on 185 head. The high selling rams overall, were a pen of 2 Targhees, offered by Sampsel Livestock of Stanford, MT. The pen sold to Kristi Bohlander of Douglas, WY for $8,000 each. Five Targhee lots sold for $4,000/hd or higher.

Sale Gross on 277 rams: $411,400

• Purebred Rambouillet average on 44 head: $1,265 (Low $200, High $2,600)
• Crossbred Rambouillet average on 13 head: $1,654 (Low $1,500, High $1,800)
• Suffolk Ram average on 21 head: $1,181 (Low $500, High $1,700)
• Suffolk X Hampshire ram average on 14 head: $1,132 (Low $900, High $1,700)
• Targhee ram average on 185 head: $1,587 (Low $400, High $8,000)
  

10^h Annual MT Ewe Sale (September 13^th)

A total of 1027 ewes sold, for an overall average of $303/hd. The ewe sale grossed $309,455.

John and Betty Sampsel of Hughes Newford Co, of Stanford, MT donated a yearling Targhee Ewe to kick off the Ewe Sale.  The proceeds from the donation ewe were collected to support young MT producers to attend industry schools and events over the coming years. Together six donors raised $3,400 for the cause.

We had two top selling lots of Targhee yearlings sell for $500/hd. The Roeder family of Montana Sheep Company sold 10 head to Alexander Maus of Sentinel Butte, ND. The other top selling lot was 20 head offered by Wynn & Jeff Tauck selling to Nathan Weaver of Hettinger, ND. Bill Schaefer from Hoven, SD purchased 38 head on the grounds. The volume off-site buyer was Five-0 Ranch of Lodi, CA purchasing 225 Helle Rambouillet yearling ewes from Dillon, MT.

Sale Gross on 1027 ewes: $309,455
Total sale average of all ewes: $303/hd
Whiteface yearling ewe average on 915 hd: $313
Whiteface lamb ewe average on 68 head: $151
Hair lamb ewe average on 30 head: $283
Blackface ewe average on 10 head: $392
Average on pens of 5: $392/hd
Average on pens of 10: $322/hd
Average on pens of 20: $330/hd
Average on off-site lots: $280/hd

Please plan to attend the 11^th Annual Montana Ewe Sale and 99^th Annual MT Ram Sale next year, September 11 and 12, 2024, in Miles City, MT.