Big Smoke!

We offered our wool to the buyers last week in Sydney.
We decided to pack the car and take a little time out. 
We drove all the way to Sydney town, the big smoke!

Day 1....Selling our wool. Our wool left our farm in big bales, now a little bit from every bale is in a box for the buyers to look at. The shed is enormous and there is wool everywhere...some in boxes and some stacked in really heavy bales ready to be shipped.

We look at our wool in the boxes to see how it has been prepared. 
There is always things we can do better.

There are lots of things to see and learn here.....
You wouldn't believe what they have found in the bales of wool after they have left the farms.
All this rubbish!

I was very lucky, and got to sit in the room when they sold our wool. 
I was going to write the prices down BUT
It all happens very fast, lots of numbers and hammer banging. 
I couldn't keep up, I was a little bit nervous.

You can listen here....can you keep up?
The buyers call out the amount of money they are prepared to pay for the wool, they bid against each other. The man next to me calls it out loud for everyone to hear.
When the bidding stops he bangs the hammer, that means it is sold to the highest bidder.
It is called an open cry auction.
Our wool could end up anywhere in the world, there are buyers here from all countries. The main buyers are from China, India and Italy.

We sold some of our wool and some we have kept. The market for wool goes up and down all the time. It is not too bad now but we are taking a bit of a gamble and hoping it might get better.

After the wool sale finished I was ready for some fun.....in the sun...

and a little bit of sight seeing

All the boxes ticked....some wool sold....a drive over the Harbour Bridge...lunch by the Opera House and  a bit of fun on the beach. Sydney was fun. I love the beach and seeing some of my FarmDay friends. I can't wait to visit again!

Back to the farm...the weather is REALLY HOT. 
We have only been away a few days and summer hit hard. It is really dry.
Dad says that may be the last trip away for a while, the risk of fire this summer is bad.
The last two summers we have had alot of rain and the risk of fire was low.

Now we need to keep our eyes open and look out for big smoke!

SALE O!

Spring time is BUSY on the farm.

Mum says it is a pity really because it is a beautiful time of year YET we never seem to have time to really enjoy it.

Time for farmers to buy new bulls and rams.

Mum helps farmers choose the rams that best suit their ewes and the farms they live on. Yesterday Mum was very busy doing her job. Each ram is looked over and she tries to rank them from best suited to least suited. Then it is up to the farmer to see if he can pay enough money to get the ram.

The rams are sold in an open cry auction. Lots of calling out numbers and hammer banging!

There were alot of people at the sale, it was tough competition.

 

The most money paid for one ram was $9000.00. 83 rams were sold and they averaged $3300.00 that is a very good result. Farmers had to really bid up to get rams. Hopefully they will all get lots of lambs next year and cut lots of beautiful wool.

I hope the rams like their new homes!

POLL RAM

and RAM with HORNS!