THE Toland Merino stud at Violet Town is steeped in history and this year will celebrate 50 years of operating in the industry.
The stud was first established at Omeo in September 1963 by Gordon Toland, with the assistance of DPI sheep officer Murray Elliot.
Gordon was running a Merino flock and selected 136 specialty ewes to form the stud.
He bought four Mawallock rams, which were tested for fibre diameter in November 1963 at the Gordon Institute of Technology in Geelong, and two were then used within the new stud.
Back then, testing was not common. It began the stud's 50 years of objective measurement.
The stud's first joining was in February 1964.
Foundation ewes descended from Western District Saxons and bloodlines used in the first 20 years of breeding included Melrose, Banavie, Hazeldean and Wonga.
In 1979, Gordon's son Phil took over as manager of the Omeo flock.
At the time, Gordon's other son Murray was working at Gordon's brother Bill's property at Cobungra.
The Omeo and Cobungra properties shared the same sires.
Then in 1981, Phil and his brother Murray decided to go into business together and established the Bindawarra Merino stud, using Banavie ewes and rams.
The stud consisted of two separate flocks, one at Cobungra and one at Omeo, but shared the same sires and pooled the sale rams.
In 1988, Phil relocated the Omeo flock to Bunbartha.
Then in 1991, the brothers decided to go their own ways, mainly for geographical reasons, and from there Phil registered the Toland Poll and Toland Merino studs.
Bindawarra remained under the management of Murray at Cobungra for the next 20 years, until it was dispersed in 2012 to Steven and Lisa Harrison at Giffard West, East Gippsland.
In 1996, Phil moved the Toland studs from Bunbartha to Violet Town. He now works in partnership there with daughter Anna and son-in-law Simon.
The stud now consists of 1500 stud poll ewes under Toland Poll and about 300 horned ewes under Toland Merinos.
They aim to breed highly productive, modern sheep, with an emphasis on wool quality, growth rates, worm resistance and carcase traits.
The Toland Merino stud is almost entirely polled, with more than 150 poll rams sold at public auction each year.
The family is offering 30 18-month-old rams and 100 stud ewes at an on-farm sale on Monday, February 4.
