| 49 be and the challenging conditions this year are not making that easy.” Breeding for quality is a core focus for Sam, who looks to Australia for productive new genetics. Artificial Insemination (AI) is central to the breeding programme. “We did some AI this year for 60 ewes, with a Wanganella ram. We found that ram through a sheep classer. Wanganella had exactly what we look for in terms of good growing wools and good body.” Wanganella is a well-known Australian Merino sheep stud, which celebrated its 150 year anniversary in 2011. All rams at Balmoral are footrot gene marker tested and Sam regularly tests sheep dung for gut worms using test kits developed by Kiwi company Techion. Balmoral Station is part of a wider family farm business that also includes Mt Hay. Balmoral supplies merino rams to Mt Hay and another regular station client. Another 30 or so rams are usually sold to interested clients every year, around February. Meanwhile, plans to develop a large solar farm at Balmoral Station are still on hold, currently awaiting the outcome of mediation and a fast track project application. MEAT & WOOL » Sam Simpson - Balmoral Merinos Merrydowns R OMN E Y S & S OU T H DOWN S B L A I R & SA L LY ROB E R T SON 15th Annual On-Farm Ram Sale 348 Koi Road Gore 223 Rams offered: 100 Southdown, 123 Romney SALE DAY: 3rd December 2024 (On-farm Open Day: 26th November, 1- 4pm) Contact: Blair 027 444 4085 Callum McDonald 027 433 6443 merrydowns.co.nz • Our family has been successfully breeding sheep for 104 years. • Ourselves and the New Zealand Sheep industry still rely on the basic commercial traits: Survival/mothering ability/teat placement/udder attachment/skin thickness/early mean kill date/growth rate/fertility/meat content and quality - there is no money in slinkies. • Both flocks are fully recorded, tagged at birth to assess the above traits, and SIL recorded. • They are run in their sexed mobs from weaning until culling in the Autumn to ensure reliability and consistency of data. • We select the top 150 Romney Rams out of 1070 Romney ewes and the top 130 Southdown Rams out of 885 Southdown ewes. “We did some AI this year for 60 ewes, with a Wanganella ram. We found that ram through a sheep classer. Wanganella had exactly what we look for in terms of good growing wools and good body.”
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