Breeder credits late uncle for hair sheep success
Southland breeder Tim Gow attributes the success of his Shire breed of hair sheep to the expert guidance of his uncle, the late Dr Scott Dolling, who was a prominent Australian animal geneticist.
Continuing poor returns for crossbred wool coupled with the emergence of triple drench resistance is driving an increasing number of sheep farmers to consider making the shift to low-input, no-shear Wiltshires.
Aside from shearing, the costs of crutching, dagging and flystrike are all eliminated with these shedding sheep. Meanwhile, Wiltshires are said to be more resistant and resilient to internal parasites than their wooly counterparts.
Will Pears, stud manager at North Canterbury's Mt Cass Wiltshire stud, says last year's inaugural sale exceeded all expectations in terms of price and interest. He is expecting the same at this year's sale on January 19.
Pears says last year more than 100 buyers from around the country competed strongly for both rams and ewes and feedback from purchasers has been overwhelmingly positive.
One of those buyers was Waimate farmer Tim Mehrtens. He admits it took a leap of faith in buying Wiltshire ewe lambs and rams at the Mt Cass's sale but was rewarded with a good lambing percentage and very good pre-weaning growth rates.
Mehrtens, who farms 215ha of rolling hill country, says the shift to Wiltshire genetics was driven by frustration with poor returns for wool. While he has been buying very good composite ewe lambs, in 2020 the difference between shearing costs and the wool cheque left him $3,500 out of pocket.
The first crop of pure Wiltshire and Wiltshire cross lambs, born last spring, exceeded expectations. Mehrtens says he was pleasantly surprised at the pre-weaning growth rates and their mothering ability.
Forced to wean early due to limited processing space, he says 220 twin male lambs killed out at 17.5 kgCW and a line of Wiltshire cross lambs averaged 17.7 kgCW.
Mehrtens has also noticed that a lot of the first cross lambs have started to shed.
"I'm stoked with the results," he says.
Phoebe Scherer, a technical manager from the Bay of Plenty, has won the 2025 Young Grower of the Year national title.
The Fencing Contractors Association of New Zealand (FCANZ) celebrated the best of the best at the 2025 Fencing Industry Awards, providing the opportunity to honour both rising talent and industry stalwarts.
Award-winning boutique cheese company, Cranky Goat Ltd has gone into voluntary liquidation.
As an independent review of the National Pest Management Plan for TB finds the goal of complete eradication by 2055 is still valide, feedback is being sought on how to finish the job.
Beef + Lamb New Zealand has launched an AI-powered digital assistant to help farmers using the B+LNZ Knowledge Hub to create tailored answers and resources for their farming businesses.
A tiny organism from the arid mountains of mainland Greece is facilitating a new way of growing healthier animals on farms across New Zealand.
OPINION: For years, the ironically named Dr Mike Joy has used his position at Victoria University to wage an activist-style…
OPINION: A mate of yours truly has had an absolute gutsful of the activist group SAFE.