32 | Proven breed for meaty lamb production Upton Stud sells about 60 two tooth rams and 20-30 ram lambs, from December through the summer, by private treaty to a mix of farmers and stock agents. Karen Phelps Tony and Lois Ellis and son Steve are passionate about the virtues of the Dorset Down breed and the bene ts for sheep farmers in introducing these genetics into their ocks. Upton Dorset Down Stud, started by the family and located a few kilometres north of Amberley in Canterbury, is now in its 58th year. Steve says the aim is to breed rams for clients who are wishing to make nancial gains with meaty, quick growing, early maturing lambs. Rams must be fundamentally sound, structurally well put together to last the distance and have the ability to be able to handle all manner of farming terrain. He says the Ellis’ breeding objective is to improve the rams that they offer to the market each year so that buyers are getting increasingly better stock. Their breeding programme sees ram sires and females selected to have good meaty carcasses with data collection at weaning and eye muscle scanning at 200 days to help them identify the top performers to sell to clients. Last season’s gures show that the stud Dorset Down ewes, which lambed in August, achieved 150% lambing rates. When weaned at the end of November 45% of these lambs weighed over 50kgs. MEAT & WOOL » Upton Dorset Downs As testament to the performance of their genetics, the Ellis’ are drafting lambs off their mothers at 17-18 kgs in early November and taking the balance through to 19-20kgs in December/mid January. They sell about 60 two tooth rams and 20-30 ram lambs, which are perfect for hogget mating, by private treaty to a mix of farmers and stock agents. These animals are sold on farm from December through the summer, which sees their genetics head all over New Zealand. Steve says many buyers feel that using a twin black face ram helps them get more lambs on the ground, which brings nancial bene ts. Ram lambs are scanned in early autumn and this year’s results show that these animals averaged 67.5 kgs illustrating that their genetic growth rates have the potential to lay down muscle, which is evident in their eye muscle area scanning results going from 21.6 to 29.9. He says Dorset Down is a proven breed for heavy meaty lamb production. “Tony and Lois have always loved seeing clients come back each year and hearing about the results they are getting in their ocks from the purchase of Upton Dorset Down rams,” says Steve, who is the President of the Central Canterbury Dorset Down Breeders Club and is the current Chairperson of the New Zealand Dorset Down Breed Society. The stud comprises 200 Dorset Down ewes and is located at Tony and Lois’ 150ha farm where they also fatten around 120 cattle each year, taking them through one winter and selling them prime in the summer into the following autumn. Steve owns a 160ha block of at to rolling country about 6kms away near Waipara, where he runs 1500 Corriedale ewes going to a Dorset Down and South Dorset Down ram for early lamb production in November. Steve says rain in February this year set the farm up for a great autumn. He has 55ha of irrigation on his block, which helps mitigate the summer dry weather. Speci cally he hasn’t noticed an increasing trend towards more extreme weather and considers farmers just have to adapt to whatever challenges climate change might present. Tony and Lois are still actively involved in the farm and work in tandem with Steve so the next generation can carry on the proud farming tradition. FOR ALL YOUR SHEARING NEEDS IN CANTERBURY UptonDorsetDowns ENQUIRIES TO: STEVE ELLIS: 027 634 2549 steveanddi1965@icloud.com TONY ELLIS: 03 314 6722 • Meat Breed rams • Two Tooths • Early maturing, well muscled sheep • SIL Recorded • EMA Scanned Proud to be associated Upton Dorset Downs Personal & Professional Service, Farm, Commerical & Business Accountancy Taxation Advice, Financial Returns • Tracmap proof of placement • Spreadmark Certi ed Contact us today! Your local certified spreading specialists! Mob: 021 134 8514 A/Hrs: 03 314 8157 Email: spreadncltd@farmside.co.nz
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