IT WAS a price that had the agents scrambling through their record books.
The 240 two-year-old August shorn ewes of Charinga blood and due to lamb to a White Suffolk ram from the end of September were sold on account of Amoilla from Hillston.
They were bought for an Elders client from Boort.
While prices for Merino ewes with lambs have broken the $200 mark, this was likely a record for single ewes.
But the top prices didn't stop there.
Geoff Whillans from Naranderra was over the moon when he sold 502 four-year-old March-shorn ewes for $168.
These were ewes he bought as lambs for $55 and have subsequently given him three lambings.
The buyer of these ewes was Arthur Gibbs from Urana.
Mr Gibbs said he was buying now because he was afraid of what would happen to prices in February when "graingrowers have a bit of spare money in their pockets".
Most of the 2009-drop ewes sold upwards of $150.
Woolly Merino wether lambs sold to $85.
Elders, who conducted the Jerilderie sale, yarded just on 6500 head, considerably down on the same sale of 13,000 last year which averaged $75.
This year's sale was expected to average about $150.
Elders Jerilderie manager Kym Hannaford said the prices were not unexpected considering the state of the sheep market and the shortage of sheep.
He said it augered well for the feature sale at Jerilderie in October where Elders was hoping to muster an offering of 30,000 ewes, wethers and woolly lambs.
