Ram Snowdon E337/24 sold for $14,000, the top price at the annual Perendale and Cheviot Two-tooth Ram Fair at Gore Showgrounds last week.
Breeder Annabel Tripp, of Snowdon Station, west of Darfield in Canterbury, said reasons for the ram fetching the top price was for traits including being correct, deep and having a "lovely jacket of wool".
"He has very high data and is well put together."
John Henricksen, of Wairarapa, bought the ram.
At the same sale last year, Mr Henricksen also paid the top price, $19,000, for another Snowdon Station ram.
"I believe he was the best one this year and the other one was the best one last year and everyone agreed."
Both rams won the People’s Choice award the Perendale Sheep Society of New Zealand runs each year, he said.
The sheep industry was in a good place, he said.
"It the best everything has looked for a lot of years."
Ms Tripp said the improvement in the sheep industry was needed.
"It has been tough the last few years and it is great to see a bit of positivity out there."
She was surprised the clearance rate at the sale was down, despite the average price being up.
"It might take a few years for people to get confident again in the industry because ewe numbers have dropped quite a bit."
She hoped the positivity in the sheep industry was more than a "flash in the pan" and confidence remains strong for a long time, so farmers bought breeding ewes and needed to buy rams to put over them.
Fair committee chairman and Perendale Sheep Society of New Zealand council member Fraser Darling, of Taieri, said most of the vendors were pleased with the sale result. "Everyone will be back next year, bigger and stronger."
Of the 30 rams offered, 19 sold for an average of $4042.
Mr Darling breeds Perendale sheep with Mike McElrea, of Gowan Braes stud in West Otago.
Perendale ram Gowan Braes 815/24, fetched $9200, the second highest price at the sale.
Another Gowan Braes ram at the sale failed to reach the $4000 reserve and was passed in.
Mr Darling was surprised at the lower clearance rate than normal at the fair.
"There was a lot more passed in than we have in the past."
The average price was up about $500 on last year, he said.
"That is a big difference."
He had no theory on why there was a slump in electronic sales at the fair this year.
PGG Wrightson national genetics manager Callum McDonald said ram sales had been going really well in the South, as the sheep industry was "humming".
"It is nice to see the sheep guys having a good run."
Good prices had been paid for good rams this season, he said.
"There is some positivity and the industry is in good heart."
The $14,000 price tag for Snowdon E337/24 was the most paid for a ram at an auction in Otago and Southland this season, at the time Southern Rural Life went to print.
Other sale season highlights included stud Craigneuk on the Maniototo earlier this month, Mr McDonald said.
The nearly 260 rams, a mix of Dorset Down, South Dorset and half-bred on offer at Craigneuk had nearly a full clearance, selling for an average price of $2350 including a top price of $7500 for Dorset Down ram CR 590/24.
"That was unreal."
