Dual-purpose plan continues

The passing of principal and sheep-producing legend Stuart Cuming in 2011 marked the end of an era for the family, whose dispersal sale will be the finale of more than 50 years in the breeding industry.

The late Stuart and wife Lavinia Cuming's Fernleigh property comprises 1500 hectares and at its peak ran about 13,000 sheep (including 5500 ewes and 1000 stud ewes).

New owners Jane and Martin Grimwade will farm the property with their son George and his wife Phoebe.

Mr Cuming's progressive breeding reputation stemmed from a decision with friend and sheep-classer Sandy MacKirdy to create the best wool and meat sheep by crossing Polwarth and Poll Merino in 1968.

"Stuart was a very keen entrepreneur regarding the type of sheep he was breeding and was very generous with his breeding knowledge," Mrs Cuming said.

"He had a very generous personality and was always available to be on committees and speak out for farmers on anything political."

The majority of the Cumings' Merino genetics were from Chatsworth House, the leading Victorian Merino stud at the time, and were put over the family's 3000 Polworth ewes.

While this bucked the popular purebred trend at the time, Mrs Cuming said it formed a foundation of stud ewes combining the best of the two breeds.

The breeding gamble paid dividends, with increased production of wool and lambs with an average greasy fleece weight of 7.2 kilograms and a lambing percentage of up to 130.

Mrs Cuming said their vision for the breed put them at the forefront of the dual-purpose sheep.

In 1979 the Fernleigh flock was named Victorian Flock of the Year, which resulted in enormous demand for the couple's rams.

"We went from selling zero rams to 700 rams, at the peak, for several years," Mrs Cuming said.

"Stuart was terribly reliable about sticking to the plan, because it was a long-term plan of the breeding which he stuck to and never wavered from.

"We sold rams to so many clients that they got to know how good the sheep's wool cuts were."

Initially Mrs Cuming was worried that people would not approve of the crossbreeding, but Stuart's determination to achieve this strict breeding plan was overriding.

The grazier was a popular identity at Sheepvention and in 2011 was named the event's Wool and Rural Monarch.

According to Mrs Cuming, he referred to Sheepvention as "the window to the sheep world in south-eastern Australia" and was a great supporter of the annual sheep showcase.

However, the collapse of the reserve price scheme curbed demand for rams in a period that was challenging for the progressive breed plan.

Along with an ambitious breeding plan came farming challenges, including a devastating bushfire in 1977 that resulted in 95pc of the property being burnt and many sheep and cattle killed.

"It was a terribly serious setback for the breeding program and some of the best ewes had to be shot, but our community was absolutely amazing with so much support to get over it," Mrs Cuming said.

"We just had to keep going and hope we had enough lambs to get the breeding right and numbers up again."

Major illness throughout his life, including three open heart surgeries, didn't deter the man who was "mad" about breeding sheep and who was an active worker on-the-farm and still worked full days until the last few months of his life.

"He has taught people that you can improve the sheep very much but you have to stick to the plan and you cannot have seasonal ideas," Mrs Cuming said.

"You need to stick to a decent plan. No matter how clever you are, if you are reliable it means everything."

The sale of the property also passes on more than 30 years of Landcare investment (during which time it is estimated more than one million trees were planted) and decades of regeneration work.