ASPIRING farmer Harvey Weeks and his grandfather Geoff have taken home the top priced ram from last Friday’s Derby Downs Poll Dorset Stud sale.
The Weeks are among long-time clients of the stud of Don McKinnon who is nurturing nephew Lachie Bailey in running the award-winning property.
And last week, it was Geoff who  was also delighting in passing on his love of sheep farming at Serpentine to another  generation.
“Harvey is really interested in sheep and the sale has been a good chance to pass on more knowledge to him,” Geoff said.
His grandson has been a vital extra pair of hands on the farm this year where Geoff said “there was a fair bit of hand feeding until only last month ... barley and hay from our own reserves”.
Harvey assisted Geoff in successfully bidding on four of the 66 rams that went under the hammer.
“I enjoy working with sheep and like the traits of the animal,” Harvey said.
The Derby Downs rams will be put to work at the Weeks’ farm where first cross ewes are bred to produce prime lambs.
Local buyers were strongly to the fore at the auction where stock agents were active bidders on behalf of Loddon and other central Victorian clients.
Lachie Bailey said he was pleased with the high clearance rate at the 2025 auction that returned an average of $1031 a head. Several rams were also sold privately after the sale.
He said the offering was regarded as one of the best presented by the stud in recent years.
“We had some very good rams and that was shown in the clearance rate,” Lachie said.
“The rams were selected to show Derby Downs at its best with rams that suit this year.”
Don McKinnon told bidders that the 66-lot offering had depth that reflected the the stud’s breeding values.
“We were really happy with how they looked after getting through a tough season,” Don said.
A second ram also sold for $1400 to K and J Keating while volume buyers included ME and DF Mullins, R and C Broad and Wayne Egan. 
The auction was the first for Derby Downs since the passing earlier this year of Inglewood stock agent Chris Nevins who had been a regular buyer for clients, always standing in the same corner of the sale ring.
An FP Nevins cap was placed on the pole where he would rest to remember his attendance at sales and contribution to the stock industry.