Marong stud Derby Downs celebrates 60 years of Poll Dorsets

The Marong-based operation is run by Paul Brown and was founded by brothers Don and Rowland McKinnon, who started breeding Poll Dorsets in 1960 at their Leichardt property, Derby Farm.

For more than 15 years, Mr Brown has been an integral part of the stud which offers about 100 rams to clients across Victoria and southern NSW annually.

"There's probably about 450 Poll Dorset stud breeding ewes and on average we turn off 150 rams a year," Mr Brown said.

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Last year the stud sold 75 of its 100 Poll Dorset rams to a top price of $2800, with clients throughout the Bendigo district, as well as Hamilton, Ballarat, Swan Hill and Balranald, NSW.

"We aim to produce good, commercial flock rams that are clean-headed and good-to-type Poll Dorsets," Mr Brown said.

"We want to offer structurally-correct sheep."

Along with his wife Kara Mamouney-Brown, and their children Georgia, 20, and Mackenzie, 17, Mr Brown is also an avid attendee at agricultural shows and believes the opportunity to showcase the breed has helped enhance its reputation over the years.

COVID restrictions have forced the cancellation of many shows in recent years, including the Australian Sheep & Wool Show which endured a two-year hiatus.

Last year the show was called off hours before it was set to take place as Victoria entered another lockdown.

As an executive member of the show's committee, Mr Brown said the return of the Bendigo event would be a sigh of relief for many stud principals.

"People were very disappointed last year but the feedback we're hearing is that people are very keen to get back to Bendigo," he said.

"It gives people a chance to display their rams and an idea of what everyone else has on offer."

Mr Brown said the Poll Dorset breed was an ideal meat alternative which produced versatile and early-maturing rams.

"The ASWS serves as a great promotional tool and a benchmark to see how your sheep compare to other studs," he said.

Last year Derby Downs sold its top-priced ram to Ross and Robyn Lougoon, Leichardt, who own the Marong Family Hotel.

"They breed a lot of their old lambs to go through the pub's kitchen," Mr Brown said.

The Lougoons also own Connor Park Winery.

Mr Brown said central Victoria had experienced one of its best starts to the year in close to a decade, adding sheep were presenting with plenty of condition after a mild autumn.

In total, including ram lambs and weaners, the stud runs about 900 Poll Dorsets at any given time.

"There is a lot of feed in the ground but there isn't a lot of value in it," he said.

"However, the autumn has been very good for the sheep because it hasn't been overly cold and we had early growth which was handy."

Last year the stud averaged $1420 across its draft of 75 Poll Dorset rams during the Marong farm's on-property sale.

"I thought the sale went well and it was on par with the last few years in terms of numbers sold on the day," Mr Brown said.

He said the stud relied heavily on its loyal return buyers, but in recent years a handful of new buyers had started to buy rams from Derby Downs.

Mr Brown said Derby Downs would offer about 100 Poll Dorset rams in the stud's on-property spring sale later this year.