38 | New Suffolk Dorper for the hogget lambing market Caralma ram bought in Australia. Kelly Deeks “We’ve been mating hoggets for the past 20 years, but it is getting a lot more popular.” MEAT & WOOL » Mt Annan Ross and Tracey McCall of Mt Annan Suffolk Stud have a new Suffolk Dorper for the hogget lambing market, which Ross is calling the Brazilian Suffolk. It offers a black faced terminal sire, with smaller birth weight but high yielding lambs for ease of lambing, and partially shedding for less crutching. Ross and Tracey are staunch Suffolk breeders with Ross breeding Suffolks since the age of 15. He bought his first flock at age 18, leasing the family farm at Waikoikoi, West Otago then buying the farm a year later. Ross sits as Chairperson on the New Zealand Suffolk Breeders committee, and they are both involved in the Otago-Southland Suffolk Breeders Club. The couple like the Suffolk breed for its dark facial coloration for lamb traceability, its good growth rates and early maturing rates, and its good meat yielding qualities. This good and hardy breed really helps at Mt Annan Suffolk Stud, which sits on top of a hill over one thousand feet. The McCall’s have always championed the Suffolk’s blackest face of all the terminal breeds, and one of Mt Annan Suffolk Stud’s breeding goals has always been to keep that nice black face and the pure breed. However, an opportunity to service the hogget lambing market in 2022/23 saw Ross trialling Dorper rams over his ewe hoggets for easy hogget lambing, and it worked well. “We’ve been mating hoggets for the past 20 years, but it is getting a lot more popular,” Ross says. “Farmers are wanting more lambs so they’re making use of these hoggets in their first year, rather than running them for an entire year without making anything out of them. Key for the hogget mating market is smaller lambs and with our Brazilian Suffolk, we’ve also got a terminal sire for all the shedding ewes that are out there now.” For the past two years, Ross has leased out all his Brazilian Suffolk ram lambs to four different farmers who have had great successes and come back for more. “They are doing really well; they’re not having any lambing troubles, as they were before using our Brazilian Suffolk. I’m now increasing my own numbers to accommodate this new demand.” Ross and Tracey are now looking forward to the warmer weather and a bit of grass growth following a wet and dreary May. After heading to South Australia with the New Zealand Suffolk Breeders Club earlier this year, Ross and Tracey have bought a new Suffolk ram from Caralma Simmental and Suffolk in Macclesfield. He will be arriving at Mt Annan Suffolk Stud later this year and with his fast growth rates and meaty frame, Ross is looking forward to making the most of this latest addition to the Mt Annan gene pool.
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