Vendors say high prices at a major Victorian Merino ram sale prove demand for dual-purpose animals is strengthening the market.

Space to play or pause, M to mute, left and right arrows to seek, up and down arrows for volume. Listen Duration: 4 minutes 34 seconds 4 m 34 s Vendors pleased with market strength at Gippsland Merino Ram Sale ( Bridget Fitzgerald ) Download 2.1 MB

There were 167 rams on offer at the sale at Bairnsdale Aerodrome on Tuesday.

Stockton Merino Stud topped the sale with Steve Wheeler from Eildon Springs Merino Stud in Lexton paying $5,000 for a 17-micron Poll Merino ram.

Mr Wheeler said he was pleased to pick up "a good all round ram".

"As soon as we got here we picked him as the stand out ram that we were after," he said.

"We've been [buying] Stockton's for probably about 20 years."

Allan Stewart from Stockton said it was a very good day for his stud.

Mr Stewart said his top price ram had been a particular favourite, which he had used with his own stud flock but he said the entire sale had demonstrated a strong selection.

"The Gippsland sheep is now as certainly as good a sheep as you're going to find," he said.

"The body weight in these sheep would be up with anything [compared to] the rest of Victoria."

Competition driven up by strong Merino prices

Allan Stewart from Stockton Merino Stud (left) with Peter and Steve Wheeler and the top price ram. ( ABC Rural: Bridget Fitzgerald )

Mr Stewart said the competition and quality had been driven up by strong prices for Merinos.

"Five or six years ago [this quality] wouldn't have been heard of," he said.

"For 160 sheep in one area and one group, they're outstanding."

Gippsland district wool manager with Elders, Mal Nicholls, said the sale produced some of the best prices he had seen in the region.

Mr Nicholls said average prices paid were up $300 year-on-year.

"The prices were very strong [with] the very best rams early in everyone's draught selling extremely well," he said.

"We had a number of rams above $4,000 with the average of the sale being at $1,960 or thereabouts."

Mr Nicholls said prices fetched at Gippsland reflected the strength in the Hamilton and Bendigo sales earlier in the season.

"I think we've seen the sales start off strongly," he said.

"The only thing that's holding back ram sales is lack of ewe numbers; if there were more ewes around, this could have been even better than it was."