| 39 Innovation meets tradition in ram breeding Combining cutting-edge technology with face-to-face consultation ensures King Country ram breeder Ken Haywood selects the right genetics for specific farming operations. Karen Phelps RURAL PEOPLE » Puketotara Stud King Country ram breeder Ken Haywood, owner of Puketotara Poll Dorset Stud, combines cutting-edge technology with face-to-face consultation to ensure his clients select the right genetics for their specific farming operations. Selling rams directly from his farm between mid-November and February each year he favours an interactive approach that puts clients at the centre of the selection process utilising SaleTool software from Beef + Lamb New Zealand. This allows Ken to present breeding data in an interactive manner on a 32-inch screen that clients can view during ram selection. “This means the client becomes more a part of the decision making process as to which rams they want to look at more closely,” explains Ken. This personalised approach is backed by a comprehensive breeding programme targeting traits that Ken believes are essential for modern lamb production: growth, meat quality and facial eczema (FE) tolerance. Poll Dorsets are his biggest sellers, with the stud marketing between 100 and 120 rams annually. Many of his clients are fattening lambs on country that was previously used for store stock in the Central North Island. “We focus on growth because buyers want a sheep killable at any weight so they don’t have to hang onto lambs, particularly if it’s a dry season,” explains Ken. “So a focus on high growth, meaty and compact lambs enables them to kill early if they need to but if they want to carry them onto heavier weights they can.” Now that the flock is at the point where it’s a “meaty type flock” Ken is placing renewed emphasis on growth and meat eating quality, particularly intramuscular fat and tenderness. He says that while the Poll Dorset produces succulent meat naturally, there is opportunity for further improvement. The stud has been recording intramuscular fat for the last four years. Perhaps the most significant trait the stud is developing is facial eczema tolerance. When Puketotara Poll Dorset Stud and Coastlands Poll Dorsets in Kawakawa Bay, Clevedon, started FE testing together in 2015, there was minimal interest from purchasers. However as the facial eczema problem has worsened, increasingly tolerant rams have become more popular. “As climate change intensifies we’re seeing FE crop up in parts of New Zealand that it hasn’t been previously. Now it’s becoming an issue in almost all of the North Island,” says Ken. The stud uses Ramguard testing through AgResearch, with rams tested at toxin levels up to 0.32 milligrams. By working with Coastlands Poll Dorsets the two studs benefit from a larger gene pool with 550 to 600 ewes between both • Civil • Commercial • Domestic • Industrial • Rural • Maintenance & Servicing • Air Conditioning & Ventilation • Heating • Lighting Designs • Motor Control Systems • Security & Camera System Installations • Refrigeration • Solar PV Systems • 24-Hour Call Outs (07) 878 8842 | 027 290 9916 | office@waiteelectrical.co.nz 2 Satco Drive, Tokoroa PH. (07) 886 6413 TOTAL ANIMAL CARE FOR THE SOUTH WAIKATO 75 Tirau Street, Putaruru PH. (07) 883 3018 109 State Highway 30, Whakamaru PH. (07) 882 8685 FARM ANIMAL SERVICES • SMALL ANIMAL SERVICES • DAIRY RESOURCES AGRICULTURAL HELICOPTER OPERATORS THE COMPLETE ON FARM HELICOPTER COMPANY CALL US TODAY 0800 2 ROTOR (0800 276 867) OR CHECK OUT OUR WEBSITE WWW.ROTORWORK.CO.NZ operations, enabling faster genetic progress. “We have largely had to become a closed flock because if we used outside sires it would have diluted any progress we made,” says Ken. “But having a closed flock has its own challenges because we have to be careful we don’t get our blood lines too close.” Ken acknowledges initial sacrifices were made with muscling and growth traits to establish FE tolerance, but the studs can now create balance between all traits. Some rams are now tolerant to 0.32 milligrams. Ken and wife Rebecca farm 441ha total/272ha effective in the King Country. They run 1450 ewes of which 370 are poll Dorset, 100 black face composite, 350 recorded Romney stud ewes which are also on SIL and FE tested up to FE Gold level and the remainder commercial Romneys. Total ram sales from all studs each year number around 200. They also have 500 ewe hoggets, 260 ram hoggets, 150 yearling cattle and 45 two-year-old cattle. All cattle are steers and bulls for either trade or fattening. Just coming to the end of lambing recently Ken says he finds this one of the most exciting times of the season. “There is a new generation of lambs coming through so I can see how the decisions I made at tupping time are working.”
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