GREG Toll's Wiltipoll and Wiltshire lambs have found a welcome market at the local Gunbower butcher.
"He's been buying my rams for more than 15 years," Mr Toll said.
"As long as I don't make them too heavy, the lambs dress really well and the customers like the quality."
The Gunbower breeder – who runs the Gee Tee stud in northern Victoria – has been breeding Wiltshire Horns since 1972.
He will be taking 14 animals to Bendigo this month, but says this is the last year he will show the Wiltshire Horns.
"I am getting older and the horned sheep are harder work," Mr Toll said.
"I am going to concentrate solely on the Wiltipolls now."
Once a Merino breeder, Mr Toll decided to try a new breed after wool and lamb prices took a dive in the 1970s.
"I heard about Wiltshire Horns on the radio and became interested," he said. One of the biggest drawcards of the meat sheep was they were fully shedding.
"I was able to secure two ewes and a ram from Leo Harwood at Lilydale and just went from there," he said.
Later on, Mr Toll decided to breed his own Wiltipolls by putting a Wiltshire Horn ram over a small flock of Suffolk and Poll Dorset ewes.
The aim was to eventually produce rams that were polled and did not have wool.
"It took several years of crossing, but I finally got there," he said.
Today Mr Toll runs a flock of 900, mainly Wiltipoll, ewes that are joined to stud Wiltipoll rams on his 1134-hectare property.
"They vary in age from one to 14 years," he said.
"The ewes last an extremely long time and one of the best things about them is they never lose their teeth."
Lambing season kicks off in July.
"There are a lot of multiple births," he said.
"If every lamb lived, I'd mark more than 200 per cent, but we have a problem with foxes and crows.
"But the lamb survival rate is up about 150pc, which is still a great result."
The lambs are sold after Christmas to the local butcher, while ewe lambs are marketed towards commercial Wiltipoll breeders.
"Wiltipolls are a very much a heritage breed, but there are a lot more getting around now," he said.
"I sold 300 ewe lambs to breeders this year and kept 200."
It is good news for Mr Toll, who can see a strong future in the breed.
He says Wiltipolls have been developing a steady following thanks to their wool-shedding ability.
*Full story and special 28-page Sheep & Wool Show preview in this week's Stock & Land.
