38 | Glenaan Station’s merino flocks have benefited from significant genetic gains aimed at production and fertility over several decades, however a shift towards animal health and welfare traits has become a more recent focus. Owners Paul and his wife Prue are the fourth generation of the Ensor family at Glenaan Station, a sheep and beef farm at Double Hill in inland Canterbury. The station supplies 16 micron super-fine merino wool for The New Zealand Merino Company’s ZQRX brand and has sourced its merino rams from Earnscleugh Station near Alexandra for the past two decades, a relationship that has worked extremely well, Paul says. “They are very passionate about their genetics. You’d probably struggle to find a ram breeder more passionate and progressive than Alastair and Duncan Campbell and they are very receptive to some feedback.” Glenaan typically buys 12 rams a year which is slightly more than needed, but this buffer allows for the redundancy of any lower performers. In 1988 Earnscleugh Station was the first merino stud in New Zealand to use estimated breeding values (EBV’s) and in 2000 its data was shifted to Merino Select in Australia. “We’ve been able to use [Earnscleugh] rams that have had the EBV’s for nearly 20 years which has meant that we’ve really been able to focus on some key traits to increase our production and that’s reflected in our scanning as well.” However, having achieved consistent gains, including in fertility, wool quality and micron, there was recognition of the need to ease this focus to achieve faster improvements in some other traits and to breed a more efficient sheep while driving down costs, Paul says. “A lot of that’s around what I would call some of the animal welfare traits like being able to hold condition, so [good] muscle and fat scores which means they are just more resilient animals.” With good resistance to foot rot having been developed in Glenaan’s merinos, faecal egg counts and worm resistance has come under the spotlight during the past two or three years, with the overall aim of reducing the time and expense spent treating these two conditions, while also recognising that resistance to drenches is an increasing concern. “We do a lot of faecal egg count monitoring versus drenching just to make sure they actually do need a drench.” Glenaan Station covers 1035 hectares and Big gains in production and fertility The station supplies 16 micron super-fine merino wool for The New Zealand Merino Company’s ZQRX brand. Russell Fredric MEAT & WOOL » Glenaan Station We are a family owned High Country farm in Central Otago, New Zealand. Specialising in breeding quality merino rams and bulls for our clients. Proudly Supporting Glenaan Station HIGH COUNTRY GENETICS GET IN TOUCH (027) 659 6713 duncancampbell77@gmail.com Proudly supporting Rangitata Holdings Proudly supporting Glena n Station supports 3150 Merino breeding ewes, 2100 hoggets and 100 Angus cows, plus 100 store cattle were carried this winter – 100 less than last season – while 400 less hoggets were carried, due to the driest spring and summer for 50 years from October last year, Paul says. “We had to cut back the capital stock and we had 900 ewes away grazing for six months as well. We’ve had stock off grazing before, but not for that long.” The flow-on effect, apart from the impact on the overdraft, will be lower stocking until Christmas, however this comes with the benefit of growing more feed and being able to catch up on the supply of silage and baleage. “Because the drought has taken its toll, we’ve probably gone backwards two or three years.” However a brighter note was this season’s pregnancy scanning of the Merino ewes and two-tooths, which Paul says at 171% and 153% respectively, was a very good result.
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy NDc2Mzg=