40 | Low chemical input focus for breeder “Since we rst started in 2005 we have been aiming to breed sheep that need less chemical inputs while still being able to give good performance,” says Romani Farms’ Ross Richards. Virginia Wright With a total of 900 hectares spread over three blocks Romani Farms Ltd runs 660 effective hectares of medium hill country not far from Taumarunui in the King Country. Central to the farming enterprise co-owned by husband and wife team, Ross and Ruth Richards, is their Romani Coopworth Stud which they bought from one of the original Coopworth enthusiasts Edward Dinger. The performance record for their breeding ock therefore goes back as far as the 1960s, when the breed was rst founded. This year the Richards put 900 recorded Coopworth ewes to the ram. Among the almost exclusively Romani rams was one from the Nikau Coopworth stud. “Coopworth breeders swap rams from one ock to another in an organized fashion which helps create a benchmark allowing SIL (Sheep Improvement Limited) to compare all of the lambs from all of the farms involved. Last year one of our rams and a his semen that I collected was widely used by North Island Coopworth breeders as part of their ongoing Central Progeny Test. Being able to compare all of the lambs from the same ram on a number of different farms, and cross-referencing key indexes, effectively improves the accuracy of the genetic calculations,” explains Ross. This desire for accuracy was part of the initial vision for the breed when it was established by its namesake in the 1950s, Professor Coopworth. It’s according to those indexes that the Richards decide on which animals to keep in their stud ock and which to draft into their commercial ock. These accurate records underpin their con dence in the speci c traits in the rams and breeding ewes they sell, which is part and parcel of the Richards’ RURAL PEOPLE » Romani Coopworth Stud Phone: 07 872 6444 Fax: 07 872 6446 Email: info@gfa.co.nz Website: www.gfa.co.nz Working together to achieve your goals. taumarunui@totallyvets.co.nz | www.totallyvets.co.nz Totally Vets Taumarunui, proudly supporting Ross and Ruth Richards and Romani Farms Ltd by providing all aspects of animal health care operation. “Since we rst started in 2005 we have been aiming to breed sheep that need less chemical inputs while still being able to give good performance,” says Ross. He gives the example of drenching and this year’s ram lambs. Born into a poor spring with pasture further impacted by the grass-eating caterpillar Porina, they developed a large worm burden earlier than normal. Faecal samples were collected in late December to be analysed for worm eggs. “What we were looking for was the lambs with the lowest worm egg count and the highest growth rate, because those animals are able to keep growing in the face of a worm burden. “Those ram lambs were only drenched three times in their lifetime, not six, or monthly as most farmer would do,” says Ross. Apart from the obvious bene t of less chemical input Ross sees these animals as better suited to their environment which in turn means they’re generally healthier and cheaper to run. “Also consumers don’t want animals that have been pumped full of chemicals,” says Ross. “We haven’t used chemicals in our breeding ock for y-strike since 2011. We treat any animal that gets it immediately and remove it from the stud ock and we’ve got it down to about half of a percent each season.” For the last three years the Richards have been measuring tail length at docking and selecting those with shorter tails. Within a few seasons, and with the future consumer in mind, they hope to have a ock that doesn’t require docking. “We’re also selecting for less dags and we’ve accelerated that up the priority list for traits to select for now that we’ve got eczema tolerance, high growth rates, meat con rmation, lamb survival, y-strike and worm tolerance all really good. Now we’re focusing on reducing that workload around docking and dagging,”says Ross. Despite four dry years and all the de-stocking decisions that came in their wake Romani Farms Ltd has managed to increase its stud ewe numbers and will have more rams available for sale than in previous years. Farmers interested to buy can see the rams on farm through late November. “We’ve got 300 top quality ram lambs to sell. Once that crops gone we’ll turn our attention to the next one, and hopefully build our overall stock numbers back up,” says Ross, undeterred by the vagaries of a climate that had just given them six months of rain in four weeks but still left them thirsting for more. At Romani Farms Coopworth tolerant, high growth, meaty, quality wool, robust Coopworth genetics. • Fully SIL recorded under true commercial conditions. • Selected for top growth and muscling, less dags, parasite tolerance, minimal drench. Not dipped since 2013. Competition Large Flock Award. 2018 winner Coopworth section. • NZ Sheep Industry Awards Maternal Trait Leader Parasite Resistance. • Romani Sires are consistently top performers in the B+LNZ Low In-put Progeny Test. romani@farmside.co.nz 07 895 7144 www.romanicoopworths.co.nz • Romani commercial hoggets winner of 2017 NZ Ewe Hogget
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy NDc2Mzg=