Coonamble sheep stud Calga Dohne will pass a major milestone on 11 September as it holds its 20th Annual Production Sale.

Seventy rams will be up for sale off the back of the family-owned station winning the Bill Pye Memorial Grand Champion Ram at the Australian Sheep & Wool Show on 20 July.

The South African judges were impressed with the Champion 2023 Calga Stud ram.

As were visitors from Uruguay, resulting in semen sales to several South American flocks in the last 12 months.

Fourth generation farmer Sandy Pye said it’s a challenging industry to reach a 20th production sale.

“You feel quite proud that we’ve been pushing for over 20 years,” he said.

“It’s so rewarding as well. Some studs start up and only last a few years and it just goes to show that our client base has got confidence in us.

“There’s also fierce competition from other studs. It’s quite time consuming and you’ve got to be patient. Very good genetics don’t happen overnight.

“You’ve got to be passionate about it.”

Calga Dohne Sandy Pye and studmaster Jason Southwell at the Australian Sheep & Wool Show.

The stud was founded in 2002 by his parents Bill and Margie, with it joining the show circuit in 2014 the year before Bill passed.

The stud began with 50 ET (Embryo Transfer) pregnancies, followed by another 50 six months later. It now has around 1100 pure-bred breeding age ewes.

“I think we’ve come a long way since our first sale,” said Mrs Pye.

“We got through by having a good quality product to sell, loyal clients and focusing on what they want.”

Mr Pye is feeling optimistic about the prospects for Calga Dohne’s sales this year, which will be held in Coonamble on Wednesday 11 September and Wanganella on Thursday 3 October.

“With the timing of the rain this year, everyone’s had good sub-clover come through, which will help carry farmers over the summer,” he said.

“The buyers will have confidence going back into sheep after a dry year last year.”