Brendon Duncan, Glen Esk Station, Wentworth, NSW, grew up with Merino sheep and bred, showed and judged them for many years until he decided to concentrate on breeding White Dorpers and Dorpers.
Mr Duncan said the decision to move into White Dorpers, and later Dorpers, was made due to changing economics and the world demand for protein.
He said the family operation changed at a time when there was much opposition to exotic breeds in the Western Division of NSW, and at a time when there were very few Dorper studs in Australia.
The Glen Park White Dorper stud was registered in 2003. In 2006 the decision was made to discontinue the Merino stud and concentrate on the Poll Merino stud and the White Dorpers. A Dorper stud was registered in 2009. In 2012 the Poll Merino stud was sold.
In 2006, Mr Duncan travelled to South Africa to see the Dorper running in conditions similar to the pastoral country of the Western Division of NSW, and to source genetics.
He said today Dorpers were a significant source of income to many graziers in the Western Division of NSW and beyond.
The Duncan family, which also included wife Maureen and children Jeff, Nicola and Peta, also run commercial sheep on the 25,000 hectares of pastoral country, which has an average annual rainfall of between 220 and 230 millimetres.
All the sheep bred and raised on Glen Esk Station are run under extensive rangelands conditions allowing for natural selection for feed utilisation and mothering.
Mr Duncan said these conditions made the sheep hardy and adaptable to seasonal variations and excellent meat producers under all conditions.
From the flock of 2200 ewes 3000 to 3500 lambs are produced annually, which are sold over the hook or through Ouyen Livestock Exchange.
Mr Duncan said the commercial flock let them see how their genetics performed in a pastoral environment.
The strength of that performance was underlined in July this year, when to fill a ‘From Nature Pastoral Company’ lamb order, 80 Glen Park White Dorper commercial lambs were counted through the gate from a mob of 450.
Of the mob, 41 were slaughtered on July 6 and had an average carcase weight of 22.66kg.
The remaining 39 were put into a native pasture paddock with 150 weaners.
These were mustered for slaughter on 20 days later and had an average carcase weight of 27.07kg.
With no supplementary feeding the second group gained 4.41kg carcase weight or 220g/day.
Mr Duncan said the butcher said there was no waste, and they cut out magnificently.
*Glen Park will take part in the inaugural Bendigo Dorper and White Dorper Sale on Saturday, October 22 at 1pm at the Prince of Wales Showgrounds, Bendigo.
