| 47 Show ewe hoggets. MEAT & WOOL » Colbion Downs from farmers who highly prize them. “Our stock are really excelling over there, the Hampshire breed is huge. They are very, very passionate about their sheep and not only Hampshire; there’s Poll Dorsets, Corriedales and several other breeds to name a few as well, but a lot of different breeds go over there. They are crated and flown over.” This past season, Colbion Downs has exported three rams and four ewe hoggets to Argentina and Peru respectively. “We breed a type of sheep that people in South America like, that’s why they keep coming back. I know one that’s got our blood lines over there, he had his own private sale and he sold about 30 rams and the top price was $NZ28,000.” The same person sold a Colbion Downs originated stud ewe for $NZ15,000. With only about a dozen breeders in New Zealand the domestic market is limited, but there is a potential niche market opportunity yet to be realised, Mike says. “The biggest thing is scanning for intramuscular fat; there’s been a lot of research done in Australia on this and the Hampshire’s seem to be one of the only [sheep] breeds with intramuscular fat (IMF), similar to the marbling of the meat in of the Wagu’s. “I think we need to be pushing this somehow and exploiting the fact that the Hampshire’s have got this.”Another notable trait is their eye muscle area and Colbion Downs sheep have been excelling in this.“When we scanned our ram hoggets the best ones scanned at 29 square centimetres which is exceptional.” Consequently, as a meat breed Mike sees crossing with Hampshire as an excellent alternative to other meat breeds. “The Hampshire cross is what we are trying to push, they have fantastic fattening lambs, there’s no two ways about it.” “They are a very underrated breed. If you go to any show and they do EMA meat scanning, you’ll find that Hampshire nine out of ten times will be in the top one or two. That is probably their leading attribute.”
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