BILL Reid was seeking a new superfine ram when he came across Angel fleece several years ago.
He was the unsuccessful under-bidder on a number of sires at Teangi stud's annual sale in the NSW New England region but benefited when he was offered the pick of the following year's rams.
Those rams were just what he was looking for.
"They have very fine Saxon influence in their breeding," Mr Reid said.
"They're small-statured sheep but the style and wool quality is very impressive."
Bill and Wilma Reid and their son Paul, whose farm at Bairnsdale is on poor-quality soil, say the conditions are favourable for growing superfine wool from their commercial Merino flock, based on superfine Hillcreston bloodlines.
Mr Reid came across Teangi after trying other rams out of the New England area with mixed results; he then heard about Angel fleece, bred by Tim Robertson and Will McClenaghan.
"I like the fine wool," Mr Reid said.
"I'm after a very white wool, very fine micron.
"We always had trouble chasing white wool down here, which led me to New England studs.
"The Angel fleece has a beautiful pencil staple, a perfect crimp, white wool – but it doesn't cut heavy fleeces, of course.
"When I had the chance I bought three Teangi rams, all 13-14 micron."
With the Hillcreston-influenced ewes averaging 15.6-15.7M wool cutting 2.5-3-kilogram fleeces, the Teangi rams have produced progeny with crimp in the 80s-90s and some at 100.
"We've gone in the opposite direction to everyone else around here," Paul Reid said.
"The country here is fairly unproductive but these sheep, although they'd be lucky to weigh 50kg, do grow out well and get bigger."
The commitment is paying off.
Last year they bagged fleece off 10-month-old weaners comprising 14M clean wool 60 millimetres long that returned 2000 cents/kg.
They also sold a bale of superfine white fleeces for 1700c/kg.
Both bales were bought by New England specialist buyers.
"I'm pretty excited by what wool the sheep will produce this year," Paul said.
"I suspect the smaller sheep cope well on this country and at eight years old some of them are still cutting true to the day they came here."
All two-tooth lambs are producing a pencil staple at 14M out of 15.8M ewes.
Triplets are regularly born to maiden ewes; last year's lambing rate was 115 per cent.
This year Paul began a ruthless culling program utilising the high-fertility lambing rate.
He said the Saxon influence had enabled the flock to move to a dual-purpose focus, with culled sheep fattened and sold for 400c/kg dressed weight.
He aims to run the flock at a rate of three dry sheep equivalents plus lambs while a re-fencing program will enable rotational rather than range grazing.
"We'll also be looking at identifying minerals missing in the sheep's diet and ways to supplement that," Paul said.
"I think we're still finding out the true potential for Merino sheep in this country," his father added.
