PENOLA-based Warrawindi stud has a clear breeding goal – to help its prime lamb clients make more money, by producing more meat in their flocks.
David and Alison Galpin and their children have been successfully breeding Poll Dorsets with this motto for 14 years.
In their flock of 550 Poll Dorset stud ewes they have used some of the breed’s highest indexing rams, aiming for a balance of early growth with muscle and fat.
Two of the Galpins’ sons – Jordan and Mason – also run Suffolk and Border Leicester studs, which were established in 2012 and 2014.
Recently the Galpins added the Bruk Bruk East Friesian stud, Wando Vale, Vic, comprising 420 ewes.
David says they wanted their terminal clients to be able to also source maternal genetics to breed their own replacement ewes.
The Galpins sell about 200 rams at their annual on-property sale, but in 2019 they hope to lift to 300.
The four stud flocks are run with a commercial flock of 1500 Merino ewes and 3000 first-cross ewes which are mated to Poll Dorsets, to produce a 22-kilogram to 24kg lamb carcaseweight at four to five months of age.
Jordan says they have had some great feedback from their clients turning off heavy lambs at a young age.
“The lamb industry looks sound as a bell for the next 10 to 15 years,” David said.
“The rest of the world is just getting a taste of Australian lamb.”