Allen and Joy were able to get permission to enter Victoria and re-enter SA (due to COVID restrictions), enabling us to see the 2019 drop progeny at the Balmoral trial site for their AMSEA Sire Evaluation. We were particularly impressed with the progeny of Glen Holme 162503. They were the best grown group, their wool had withstood 700mm rainfall very well, and they topped the Dual Purpose + Index. 162503 also had the highest aggregate of all four Merino Select Indices. We have concentrated on breeding balanced animals. He was a trait leader in three of the four indices, and just missed the fourth. These are production indices with high linkage to income generation.
Damien, Lauren and Allen traveled to Eyre Peninsula to visit a Dohne stud that has used some of our rams including a Link Sire that we have progeny from. It was exceptionally useful to see how our sheep perform in a different environment and also in a Merino cross flock. The best part of the day was probably the discussions and a common goal of breeding the most profitable sheep for clients.
Lauren and Allen attended the Adelaide node of the Sheep Genetics Leading Breeder forum. This is part of our training and professional development plan. Some modules were streamed from Armidale and we also had a few live presentations from researchers.
We had an enquiry from another Stud breeder for some Link Sires that we had used. Ultimately this meant that Damien and Allen had a quick trip to Nyngan in NSW to make the swap over. We were fortunate to acquire a proven sire from Harewood Stud in Armidale and we returned home with him on board. We already have progeny from this ram and one of them has been used at Balmoral in western Victoria in their Sire Evaluation.
The image shows the fl
eece style from a son of the Harewood ram 131836. Glen Holme 194902 will have progeny in the 2021 drop Balmoral trial.