A YEAR ago, they were drowning in dust.

But the only ones choking at the Hillston sheep sale in the Riverina on Monday were the buyers, as they forced prices to a new record of $204 for unjoined young Merino breeders.

The depth of the sale was seen when looking at the book at the end of the day _   not one ewe sold for less than $118.

The new high for young unjoined Merino ewes could well have set the trend for sales in the coming weeks as a big crowd scrambled to get a bid in.

Honours for the highest price ever for young commercial Merino ewes went to the Peters family's Ballatherie Merinos, of Hillston, for a pen of 190 head, July-shorn, Ballatherie-blood ewes in good condition.

The same line of sheep last year made $122.

It was a sign of things to come, as not one pen of young ewes made less than $188, with the balance selling from $188 to $202.

While many were shaking their heads at the young ewe values, they were even more surprised when four-year-old Merino ewes sold to $180.

The Groat family, of Rankins Springs, paid this for a pen of 343 head, August shorn and Pooginook blood, sold by Gary Hutchinson of Hillston.

Mr Hutchinson said he had expected to get "about $150-$160" for the ewes.

Other notable sales of old ewes included the two drafts from TA Field Estates' Hunthawang Station, which were sold on property as it was too wet to truck them into Hillston.

The Rosedale blood, March-shorn ewes, made $157 for the five-year-olds and $144 for the six-year-olds.

The balance of the older Merino ewes sold from $118 for cast-for-age breeders, and up to $155 for CFA ewes with lambs.

Even ewe lambs made three figures, with Mountview selling April-May drop young ewes, August-shorn and Haddon Rig blood, for $132 and $120.

A lack of producer demand for wether lambs meant most went to processors, but few vendors were complaining, as shorn wether lambs topped at $110, with the balance making from $83 to $98. Ballatherie again took the honours for the top pen, with a processor paying the $110 for the shorn wether lambs, which had an estimated carcass weight of 22-23kg.

The only pen of Merino wether lambs was sold by TA Field Estates' Hunthawang Station, with the June-July drop woolly wethers, Rosedale blood, making $71 for 900 head. Rawlinson and Brown principal Gavin Brady said the sale was "an enjoyable experience".

"The quality of the sheep was very strong and we didn't have any preconceptions on how it would go," he said.

"But we knew it would be a day where we would see prices we hadn't not seen for a long while."