The Binda district stud, owned by Terry and Anne McIntosh, called an end to 35 years of breeding Border Leicesters with the offer of 60 rams.

Of these, 44 were sold for a good clearance of 73 per cent to average $469.

The top price of $800 was paid twice by Landmark Goulburn and B.A. and H.A. Anderson, "Lower Sylvia Vale", Binda, for the first two lots.

In total, the Andersons purchased eight rams, averaging $519, while Landmark Goul-burn bought five rams at an average of $480.

The second-top price of $750 was paid by Binda Holdings, Binda, which purchased 13 rams at an average of $477.

Mr McIntosh said after the sale he was happy with the clearance.

"We offered more rams than we normally do, so that wasn't a surprise," he said.

Although he was satisfied with the prices, he had hoped the rams would fetch a bit more in the market given the current strength of the meat sheep industry.

Mr McIntosh said the season leading up to the sale had also been decent, allowing them to prepare the rams with relative ease.

Elders Crookwell manager, Mark Watson, said the lower than expected prices were in part due to the number of rams offered.

More registered bidders, while probably not lifting the clearance rate, would have forced buyers to compete harder for the rams they wanted, and so pushed values higher.

However, he said the prices did not reflect the quality.

"The rams would have stood up at any sale in the State," Mr Watson said.

The average weight across the 60 rams was 100.7 kilograms.

David Dawes, "Daramalan", Roslyn, who earlier had purchased the Sylvia Vale stud ewes to form his own stud, was also pleased with the sale.

He said the response from buyers was a good sign of the strength of the stud's genetics and reputation.

The sale was conducted by Elders with Steve Ridley, Elders Goulburn, as the auctioneer.