Westleigh White Suffolk stud, Beaufort, will feature the first progeny from a ram purchased at the Royal Adelaide Show Elite sale, during this year’s Sheep Week.
Westleigh’s Ian and Denise Porter bought the July 2015-drop Premier 150021, the son of Baringa 130519, in 2016 and had been using him heavily since.
Mr Porter said the ram’s impressive BreedPlan figures were now showing up in his offspring, with some “ripping lambs” on the ground.
By Sheep Week, the first of Premier’s offspring would be around 14 months-old.
They would probably be “the front runners” in the stud’s annual September sale, which may see more rams than last year on offer.
Premier recorded a birthweight (BWT) of 0.40 kilograms, a weaning weight (WWT) of 9.5kg and a post-weaning weight of 14.9kg.
At Adelaide, he weighted 126.5kg and had estimated breeding values (EBV’s) of a fat depth of 8.5 millimetres and an eye muscle depth (EMD) of 51mm.
“Those figures have gone up in his lambs,” Mr Porter said.
Mr Porter said he took part in the inaugural Sheep Week and was doing so again to give potential buyers a chance to see what the stud had to offer.
“I haven’t done any artificial insemination (AI) this year,” Mr Porter said.
“I’ve bought extra rams, in the last couple of years.
‘We have been focusing on purchasing better rams, rather than AI, because we just don’t get the conception rates.”
Rams would be yarded and Westleigh would be lambing, during Sheep Week.
“If people want to have a look and see exactly what goes on, I’ll take a few tours around the paddocks,” he said.
“If the sheep don’t survive in the paddock, there is no point selling them to anyone else.”
Mr Porter said conditions could be quite exposed at Westleigh.
The Beaufort area often suffered from strong winter winds and climactic events, such as frosts at Bendigo.
Mr Porter said last year, the stud experienced a strong demand for rams, after a quiet period.
‘There was a bit of a rush on them,” he said.
“All of a sudden it went the other way and I got caught with not enough rams.”
He said he might boost the number of animals on offer, at this year’s sale.
The second Sheep Week will run between June 18-27.
Entries close on April 30.