First up on the Thursday was Chris and Pauline Stapleton's Capree Stud at Newbridge, where the Charinga blood Merino rams presented and sold well with a top price of $7250 being reached twice.

I thought that the front row of 11 young rams would compare with the front row line-up at the majority of studs.

My pick, number 11, sold for $7000 and is a typical Charinga poll type.

The working dog sale really set records and the combined ram and dog sale seems to be a winner.

AT the Blink Bonnie sale at Tarana, the line-up of 80 young rams drew plenty of interest from a keen crowd.

Top price of $4000 and a good clearance is a reward for Peter and Kaye Moore, whose sale rams displayed the long stapled, very white wools that are so typical of the Roseville Park type.

Lot 32 was sold for $2000 and the proceeds donated to the Olivia Newton-John Centre for Cancer Research.

THE 20^th Fosterfield Ram Sale, held on-property at The Rocks on Sunday, offered 40 rams and had an 87 per cent clearance, an average price of $1860 (a record for the sale's highest average) and a top price of $4500.

The top price was paid by Tim and Jock Johnson of Cargo for lot 9, sired by Roseville Park poll RP18-0143. They also bought the second-highest-priced ram, lot 8, for $3750.

The sale was conducted by Nutrien Ag Solutions at Bathurst.

Fosterfield said it was pleasing to see such a strong turnout of locals for the sale and it was a great opportunity for people to gather and talk all things sheep.

WARMER weather and unlimited soil moisture is giving crops and pastures a real lift, but the weed population has also risen quickly.

Very obvious is the population of true Scotch thistles that are rising quickly.

Staff at rural outlets have good advice on the correct chemicals to use on these tough, invasive thistles and I guess that Lontril with a strong wetting agent may be the choice.

There will be problems in getting to many of the infestation sites with spraying gear and the use of a knapsack on a user's back carries a real health risk.

The little ATVs and side-by-sides will again be a Godsend if this very wet spring continues into summer.

RECENT RURAL NOTEBOOK COLUMNS:

REPORTS keep coming of the serious lack of manual workers in the majority of businesses.

Just who would a contractor phone to offer 12 weeks' work in cutting sheep feet in muddy yards?

There don't seem to be workers available for abattoirs, woolsheds, rural and fencing contractors and many other jobs.

Maybe the good manual worker should be paid more than the adviser at the computer screen.

In very recent times we've seen young woolly wethers sold to the meat trade because of difficulty in finding shearers, and good jobs with fence and spray contractors are not being filled.

SYMPATHY is offered to Joy and the O'Connor family on the recent passing of their patriarch, Bill O'Connor.

Bill was a successful Sydney businessman who bought the Davey's Creek property at The Lagoon where very good quality wool and livestock have been produced for many years.

Bill and Joy's love of the Bathurst trots has always been obvious; they had a special seat at the old Bathurst Showground trots.

IT was quite a surprise to hear Rural Notebook referred to as the Bathurst Merino Association (BMA) column recently.

When the column was first included in the Western Advocate, it carried the BMA logo and was centred on the association's activities.

As the BMA mellowed, it became a country news and opinion column and various groups were mentioned when they had items of interest.

The column has been included by five editors and has been an interesting hobby for me and hopefully a good read for you.

Country Bathurst has changed greatly during those 30 years.

WEEK 16 of Australian wool sales once again saw a very strong market as our global trading partners bought 95 per cent of the offering.

Everyone has been wondering when the low Australian dollar would buy in demand as China has been very quiet with its purchasing.

Last week the Eastern Market Indicator (EMI) had its strongest lift in over a year, jumping by 52ac to 1323ac/kg (up 4 per cent). The market lifted 5pc in US dollar terms and 3pc in Euro terms.

Better style, lower VM and good strength merino wools have been most affected, ultimately dragging up the indicators.

Even crossbreds had a rally, with 28 micron lifting 25ac/kg, though these are still trading far below the market we saw prior to COVID-19.

However, note the poorer, coloured and cott types are still selling at very low levels.

Week 17 of sales has an early estimated offering of approximately 41,000 bales.