Ridgeside Romneys, Evandale, Tas, experiments with composites

Ridgeside Romneys and Kirkside Southdown stud principal Andrew Hogarth, Evandale, Tas, said he hoped to see recognition of the Romney breed.

Romneys are are dual-purpose sheep with strong mothering ability, known as one of the oldest sheep breeds with heavy wool and black feet.

"They've just gone out of favour, I have no issues with them but people nowadays are chasing composites, and they want more lambs," Mr Hogarth said.

"That's well and good but I'm working on the fertility, the rams that I'm using now - there's only one that wasn't born a twin."

Mr Hogarth said his Romney lambs scanned at nearly 150 per cent this year, before marking.

"As far as the mothers go, they are exceptional," he said.

"I tagged them at birth so I know what's going on, and some of the ewes will come up and basically knock you over."

Mr Hogarth said he had stopped showing Romneys in Tasmania because there was a lack of competition, and slowed down on showing on the mainland because of expenses to bring sheep privately across the Bass Strait.

Mr Hogarth's family founded the Romney stud in 1948, and the Southdown stud in 1884.

He said he decided to help maintain both studs because of their long-term history.

"Because it was the oldest stud in the country, and I was fairly interested in [Southdowns], I thought it would be a shame for them to disappear," he said.

He said they looked forward to their Southdown ram sale on November 16, which normally included Romney rams, but there was lacking interest in the breed.

"There are Romneys here available but we decided not to put them in the sale," he said.

"The people I sell them to, they're old-school type people that have always had Romneys, they don't come to the sale, they'll ring me the day before.

"But the Southdowns, they're so popular at the moment."

Mr Hogarth said the only reason he had focused more on Southdowns than Romneys in recent years, was because of their marketability and demand.

"It's a real shame that I can't move more Romneys," he said.

"They're the toughest sheep you'll find, and their mothering ability - I've never seen anything better.

"They have a bad reputation for being too woolly, but that's one thing that I've worked on."

Mr Hogarth said it had taken a few years, but he had managed to maintain Romney sheep with less wool around the face.

"They're a traditional breed, they're a pure breed and a heritage breed, it would be a shame to see them disappear," he said.

He manages about Hereford cattle, Southdowns and Romneys, and said he was "playing around" with composites.

Mr Hogarth said he had been experimenting with a crossbred flock to combine the best of the breeds, including Merinos.

"Basically you've got a sheep with reasonable wool on it, and it's a good mother," he said.