![Taylor siblings, John and Sarah, with some of the Winton Merino stud’s wool at last week’s Macquarie Field Day. Taylor siblings, John and Sarah, with some of the Winton Merino stud’s wool at last week’s Macquarie Field Day.](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/silverstone-agfeed/1036151.jpg/r0_0_600_399_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
THE moment the Taylor family had been waiting for finally arrived on Friday afternoon.
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In front of a waiting crowd, former test cricketer Glenn McGrath cut the strings to unveil a special brass plaque on the historic shearing shed door.
It marked Winton’s 175th year of breeding Merino sheep.
Situated at Campbell Town in Tasmania’s midlands, Winton was established in 1835 and is the world’s oldest registered stud.
And after notching up so many years in the wool industry, owner John Taylor Senior attributed the stud’s durability to a number of factors.
“I think to a certain extent, it’s in your genes. But how successful you are really boils down to the quality of stock you start with,” he said.
And quality stock is something the Taylor family knows all about.
Winton was founded using sheep imported by the renowned Eliza Furlong from Saxony and the Taylor family have made it their mission to carry on the pure-bred bloodlines ever since.
“I think our longevity goes back to the quality of sheep from Eliza, but also the determination of each generation to preserve something pretty unique,” Mr Taylor Snr said.
The Winton Estate has been home to seven family generations, which now include John’s son (John Junior), with up to 12,000 Merino sheep run on the property.
The Taylor’s annual clip averages about 17-micron and is sent to some of the best weavers in the United Kingdom for processing; marketed through the Saxon and Escorial wool brands.
Soft to handle and fine in diameter, the Saxon wool has developed a reputation across the high-end suiting apparel market.
The Taylors run a closed flock, with family groups line-bred to conserve the Saxon genetics.
The operation has moved away from mulesing, preferring to produce a plainer bodied sheep.
And as for wool type, Mr Taylor Snr says Winton aims to turn out “white, bright wool with style and even crimp formation”.
This year, he says the flock will cut plenty of wool, mostly due to the “best season he has seen in 30 years”.
Last week, the family took part in the very first Macquarie Field Day, in a bid to promote the commercial side of their enterprise.
They hope it will boost ram sales, after focusing on wool mar keting for so long. Eager advocates of the wool industry, Mr Taylor Snr and his son have stuck to their guns and opted not to swing over to the lucrative fat lamb market.
After a long period of depressed prices, they remain confident about the fibre’s future.
“I am optimistic. The lift in wool prices needs to be sustained, before people start getting back into wool,” Mr Taylor Snr said.