Business Rural North Spring 2021

30 | Mana Stud putting up top-tier rams Karen Phelps RURAL PEOPLE » Mana Stud: Selina & Malcolm Wyeth “Our North Island customers, particularly on the East Cape find Facial Eczema a challenge so having FE tolerant genetics at Mana Romney Stud is important.” 2021 RAM SALE Tuesday 16th November at 1.30pm (On Farm 127 Admiral Road Gladstone, Masterton inspect ion invi ted from 12 noon) 40 Stud and Top Commercial Romney Rams to be sold at Auction. Romney and Romdale Rams available also by private sale. Rams selected on structural soundness and high performance data SIL Maternal worth indexes from 2500 to 3300 All enquiries: Please contact Malcolm Wyeth 027 252 7151 Ryan Shannon/PGG Wrightson 027 565 0979 Tom Suttor/Carrfields on 027 616 4504 FE tested rams at .5mg/kg LWT available for sale . / il l l O n November 16 Mana Romney Stud will of- fer its top 40 Romney rams to the market at its annual on-farm sale. Stud owner Malcolm Wyeth says that this year’s line up demonstrates the best of the genetic gain his stud offers. “Buyers will have the opportunity to get their hands on the very best we’ve got,” he says. Rams are selected on SIL performance data rat- ing between 2000-3500 on the index and structural attributes. Mana Romney Stud breeding objectives include fertility targeting ewes with the ability to have two lambs weaning at 35-40 kgs each, surviv- ability and good milking and mothering ability. Mana Romney Stud hasn’t forgotten about wool aiming for good white fleeces. The flock is scanning at 180-200% and Malcolm says the genetics are well linked to other breeders in the industry by swopping rams to enable quicker genetic progress and also allow Mana Romney Stud to benchmark itself. Carcass conformation is important and Mana Romney Stud aims for rams with solid hindquarters and thick loins. All ram hoggets are eye muscle scanned. Intramuscular fat is also recorded includ- ing scanning for skin thickness. The latter is a slightly unusual thing to scan with only a handful of breeders in the country doing so but Malcolm says by only retaining rams scanning at 5mm or better the thicker skin improves survivability. Three years ago Hillcroft Romneys was pur- chased. The flock FE dosing is 0.5mg/kg for Facial Eczema tolerance and Malcolm is aiming to build on this with both this new flock and his existing one. “Our North Island customers, particularly on the East Cape find FE a challenge so having FE tolerant genetics at Mana Romney Stud is important,” he says. The rest of Mana Romney Stud’s rams are sold privately each year and include Romdale, Suffolk and Suftex options. Malcolm is a fourth generation Romney breeder and he and wife Selina farm three units around Masterton. The home farm at Gladstone totals 158ha plus a 40ha lease block. This is where the stud breeding ewe flock resides and the ram hog- gets due to be sold. There is also a 254ha farm at Wainuioru that was purchased in 2008, the same year they took over the home farm from Malcolm’s parents. The Wyeths run their commercial sheep opera- tion here along with trade cattle. Recently they purchased an 80ha unit at Miki- miki, ten minutes north of Masterton, which will be used for finishing lambs from Wainuioru, trading cattle and grazing stud ewe hoggets. The farms runs 5500 stock units in total, mainly Romney and Romdale ewes with a small Suffolk and Suftex stud and 150 bulls. Malcolm worked on South Island properties be- fore returning home to the family farm and has now clocked up over 30 years in the industry. He’s had a stud flock since he was 15. Mana Romney Stud was purchased from well known New Zealand breeder Craig Gibson in 2000 and since the purchase of that line of sheep – under Malcolm’s eye for what makes a great Romney – it has gone from strength to strength. Malcolm and Selina have two children, Hunter 18, who is studying agribusiness and food marketing at Lincoln University and Tessa 16. Hunter, 18, and Tessa, 16, with parents and Mana Romney Stud owners Selina and Malcolm Wyeth.