56 | Finer wool and much improved fertility Wilfield Sheep Stud achieved outstanding results at last year’s NZ Agricultural Show in Christchurch. Kim Newth Founded in 1992 by Robin and Pip Wilson, Wilfield is a renowned Corriedale sheep stud located south of Christchurch at West Melton. Over the past three decades, Robin and Pip have honed the Corriedale, known for both meat and wool production, to produce a more open headed, more fertile sheep with better mothering ability, finer wool, resistance to footrot and now testing for worm resistance. The couple are not exaggerating when they describe their rams as the Corriedale 2.0 - the sheep for the future. “We are not only getting fertility that’s the equal of many crossbred breeds, but our Corriedale sheep are also producing much finer wool,” says Robin. Their 140ha farm is also home to the Wattlebank Stud (Corriedales), where the Corriedales are complemented by Suftex meat rams. Robin and Pip have long embraced innovation, using objective data and analysis through Sheep Improvement Limited and gene marker technology to accelerate gains in meat and wool production. Wilfield Sheep Stud achieved outstanding results at last year’s NZ Agricultural Show in Christchurch, including Champion Corriedale Ram, Supreme Champion Corriedale Exhibit, Best Wool Sheep of the Show, and a slew of other accolades. It highlights how well they are tracking against their peers in terms of the look of their sheep but the real proof of their hard work lies in the glowing feedback they consistently get from their commercial ram clients. “People who buy our rams are seeing continuing increases in the fertility and the mothering ability of their sheep and they’re seeing finer wool product from their animals too.” Wilfield rams are sold by private treaty in December. Interested buyers can book a 2½ hour appointment, giving an opportunity to look over all the options in depth to get exactly what they want. Finer wool with lower micron count traditionally attracts a higher market price – and Wilfield Corriedales are indeed fine wool performers. Wilfield’s Christchurch Show Wool Champion ram, used in their stud last year, combines fine wool - 24.5 micron – with excellent carcass metrics too. Robin and Pip are also pleased to have had one of their young Corriedale rams selected for the 2024 Beef and Lamb New Zealand Sheep Progeny Test. MEAT & WOOL » Wilfield and Wattlebank Studs “He’s only a two-tooth so has only had one crop of progeny, but at this point he appears to have all of what we want as breeders – a good carcass with very fine wool and big fertility in the background too.” In recent times, Robin and Pip have sold a number of rams to South America. After four years of good service for their stud, they sold one of their best rams (Wattlebank 39/19) for an excellent price to a Peruvian buyer last year. “At a recent world conference show, another Wilfield ram was judged the best wool sheep of the show. The champion sheep at that show was a ewe by a ram from here. It shows that we’re making inroads in export for our high performance sheep.” Meanwhile, Robin and Pip have recently provided an opportunity for a young farmer, Jeremy Henderson, to build experience with them. “He’s now running the farm on a day-to-day basis. He loves the stud sheep – we’re really pleased with how he’s progressing here.” Weareabusiness built on is toprovidequalityadviceand tooptimisevalue for youat everyopportunity. Giveus a call andwe’ll prove it. Hazlett Ltdareproud tobe 033587988 hazlett.nz › Hazlett Livestock › Hazlett Agronomy › Hazlett Insurance › Hazlett Funding › Hazlett Procurement We are proud to support Robin and Pip atWil eld&Wattlebank Stud. PGGWrightson Wool – trusted by growers, respected by markets, for over 170 years. For more information on howwe can help you visit: pggwrightsonwool.co.nz scanme for more info
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