ABOUT US
Our Romney's and Southdown's are genetically stamped with fertility, growth rate, meat and wool and are not living on hybrid vigour.
All stock on the property are put under commercial pressure to ensure they can shift to all environments. There are 5,000 stock units run on 397 south facing, steep to rolling hectares.
Our Romney ewes are culled ruthlessly for their actual lambing strings - two singles and they go to the Southdown rams for the production of early lambs. Over the last 5 years the average lambing percent has been between 146-160% (ewes mated) across the farm and environmental conditions.
Romney ewes shear on average 7-7.5 kg of wool and with an average body weight of 59-78 kg's.
All studs are EID tagged for ease and accuracy of recording.
We are breeding medium framed sheep with spring of rib and depth, bone, constitution and longevity. We place great emphasis on muscular hind quarters and an above industry average eye muscle area (loin). One of our goals is for our commercial clients to be able to breed top quality ewe replacements that are fertile, open faced, stacked full of meat and wool with longevity. In the current economic climate it is important not to underestimate the cost of ewe replacements.
Cheers,
Blair and Sally Robertson
We have an annual on farm auction which is held in early December. There are approximately 220 pure bred Romney and Southdown 2 tooth rams available for sale; these are selected from the top 25% of lambs born on type and performance (SIL) data. In March/April there are approximately 100 Southdown ram lambs suitable for hogget's and ewes available for sale.
Our rams are going into and thrive in all different environments - from Warkworth in the North Island to Bluff in Southland. The Romney rams are ideal for breeding Half Breds for the Merino industry due to their medium high quality wool, which is free from black fibre.
We have the largest Southdown flock in New Zealand with a base of 560 ewes; there will be 200 replacements going into the flock each year. With the Southdown's we focus on quality, fertility meat, growth rate, skin thickness and early mean kill date.
Our Romney and Southdown Studs continue to be SIL recorded; these are used as a culling tool only. Our SIL figures are real figures for this farm, this environment, and our management as our figures are not cross flocked and we are not on SIL ACE. This means our linkages with other breeders are minimal, ensuring we remain independent and a source of out cross for the New Zealand sheep industry.