| 31 “We’re seeing our lambing percentage increase, and the ewes performing better in their mothering ability and weaning rates.” MEAT & WOOL » Armidale Merino Stud Simon & Sarah Paterson, Overall Winner Merino Clip of the Year 2022. Merino Ewes on Summer run country. Clip of the Year for Armidale Merino Hugh de Lacy Proud to partner with Armidale Merino Stud Proud to partner with Armidale Merino Stud A second New Zealand Merino Excellence Award in six years for the clip of year has further boosted the pro le of Armidale Merino Stud at a time when it’s making steady genetic gains in worm-egg counts and post-weaning weights. Armidale stud, owned by Simon and Sarah Paterson and couched on the high Maniototo Plain in Central Otago, took the coveted award for the third time overall at the presentation event held in Queenstown in June. It was a high point in a great year that even saw the South Island’s dreadful winter spare the normally snow-prone Maniototo. The Fleece of the Year Award is judged on that toughest of criteria, wool pro tability per stock unit, combining genetics, management and marketing. Armidale’s pro tability is thanks in large part to its supply contract with Norwegian clothing giant Devold, which head-hunted the stud to help replace the 28 Australian producers it dumped six years ago for de ciencies in wool quality and length compared to New Zealand merinos. “Devold’s contract has given us the con dence to continue in the direction we’re going, with wool being paramount in our selection process, and we’ve just signed a new ve-year contract with them at really good levels,” Simon says. Armidale’s stud ock, on 2054ha near Gimmerburn on the Maniototo, comprises 1200 breeding ewes producing wool in a micron range of 18.5 to 19. The stud sheep shear an average of 6.5kg, while the station also runs 1200 commercial merino ewes and a Halfbred ock of 1200. In terms of genetics, the other key criterion in the Clip of the Year Award, Simon says his stud ock has made signi cant gains over the past couple of years in areas that include worm resistance and maternal traits. “With worm resistance, we’re into our third year of not using capsule in our mixed-age stud ewes and Halfbred ewes. “There are de nitely some genetics that aren’t performing as well without them, so we’ve been testing these to nd out which ones they are so we’ll be able to move away from them.” This involves counting individual eggs in faeces, and “It’s the worst job on the farm with a lot of hiding and ducking for cover when it comes to worm-counting day,” Simon says. “Maternal traits and worm resistance are both slow-progress areas, but every year we’re seeing our lambing percentage increase, and the ewes performing better in their mothering ability and weaning rates.”Another area of improvement at the back end of the sheep is the dag count, linked to worm-egg counts.“We’re not using sires with high dag scores,” Simon says. There’s gradual progress too in carcase traits.“We’re using a few outside trials for sires with leading carcase weights because some of these traits are extremely negatively co-related to wool traits, and we’re just making sure we’re keeping the quality up.” But the station’s pro tability is tied to the Devold contracts which “give us the con dence to carry on investing in the Merino breed,” Simon says.
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