FAIRBURN sheep stud has evolved significantly in its 114-year history, and in 2017, they are joining 3100 White Suffolk, Poll Dorset, Corriedale, Suffolk, and Dorset Horn ewes, both stud and commercial.
Darryl, Janet, and son Finlay MacDonald, said one of the biggest changes has been their transition into the prime lamb market.
“We used to be about 50 per cent wool, 50pc sheep meat, but now wool is back to about 15pc of our income, with the rest of it basically in sheep sales,” Finlay said.
“That side of things has definitely spun around, we still focus on wool a bit, but unfortunately in this day and age, it isn’t as much of a percentage of our income.”
Having originally started as a Corriedale stud, they now also run Poll Dorsets and White Suffolks.
“Up until the early 1970s, we were all Corriedales, then we tried several breeds, and eventually settled on Dorsets and Suffolks,” Darryl said.
“In the early 1990s, we registered the White Suffolks in Finlay’s name, and when he left school, we told him he could run the White Suffolks.
“We went from having 100 to about 200 overnight, and now we’re up to about 400 White Suffolk ewes.”
The family all work together on the 800 hectares they own and lease in Porcupine Ridge, and said demand for the terminal sires has continued to increase.
“Demand for White Suffolks is getting stronger and stronger, but Poll Dorsets are still selling well,” Janet said.
“The White Suffolks are just continuing to improve.”
They said because of this, they have a high demand for their rams.
“We sell other rams as well, a handful of Corriedales and Suffolks, even the odd Dorset Horn, but in the last few years, we just can’t breed enough White Suffolks to satisfy demand,” Finlay said.
“A lot of our clients have Merino ewes, and the prime lamb industry is just getting stronger and stronger.”
They said clients come from within a one hour, but sometimes further, radius of their property, and are returning because they’re getting good results.
“The rams are going out there and performing, and with every generation they’re improving,” Finlay said.
“In the last couple of years, lamb prices have been good, so our clients have been getting good money for their lambs.”
The ewes are joined in January, and lambing is spread out over June and July.
“The winter is pretty tough here, so we like to spread out the lambing so that if you get a couple of bad days, you’re not going to have them all lambing at the same time,” Finlay said.
“It means you spread the risk out a bit, as well as the workload.”
Darryl said it had taken a “lifetime” to work out what joining schedule is best suited.
“People might think it’s a bit ridiculous to have lambs in June and July, but we’ve had them earlier before, and there’s just not enough grass for them,” Darryl said.
“It suits the available feed and we match our stocking rate accordingly, the later lambs always seem to catch up.”
The family has been successful showing their sheep.
“Last year, we placed in the top three for the Sire’s Progeny Group of three sheep classes at all of the major shows,” Finlay said.
“That’s probably been one of our biggest achievements.”
He said participating in Stock & Land Sheep Week would just be another avenue to promote the studs.
“I’ve always gone around during Beef Week and had a look at some people’s farms,” he said.
“You see these people and their animals in the paper all the time, but it’s good to get out there and see it all for yourself.”