RAMS FOR SALE
DECEMBER 2014
On AUCTIONSPLUS &
BY PRIVATE SELECTION
ON FARM
BALLYMOYNE DORPER ATTRIBUTES
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ABOUT US
At BALLYMOYNE we run a business based on
the production of MEAT for PROFIT and
LIFESTYLE.
Our sheep business is centred on running a large
commercial ewe flock on ‘GLENEAGLES’
9000 acres of (24+ inch rainfall) on the tip of
South Australia’s Eyre Peninsula, and our
Victorian breeding centre ‘BALLYMOYNE’ on
254 acres in a high rainfall (32 inch) southern
farming system.
We specialise in ewes and maternal
genetics.
There are many breeders selling Dorper or
Dorper composite rams. Normally these
breeders don’t have lines of high quality
shedding ewes. This forces farmers to upgrade
their existing flocks of wool sheep, which can be
a costly and time-consuming process.
For clients who are looking to transition their
sheep business to cleanskin genetics we can
supply large lines of non-shearing ewes that
have been bred for southern farming systems.
ANIMAL WELFARE TRAITS
SHORT TAILS - NO TAIL
DOCKING
NO CHEMICALS
WHITE HAIR SHEEP
CASHMERE-LIKE UNDERCOAT
FOR WINTER- HEATREFLECTIVE WHITE HAIR FOR
SUMMER
EWES
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FERTILITY– EARLY MATURITY
(MATE AT 7-8 MONTHS) & HIGH
LAMBING PERCENTAGES
LONGEVITY– THE NUMBER 1
PROFIT DRIVER
LARGE LINES OF CLEANSKIN
EWES AVAILABLE FOR SALE
RAMS
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GUARANTEED TO WORK
RAMS ELIGIBLE FOR SALE
ACROSS ALL STATES AND OJD
ZONES
Above – One of our rams with pure hair
coverage photo taken in September 2013
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LATEST ADVANCES AT BALLYMOYNE
Farming Via Remote Technologies
At BALLYMOYNE we believe that the biggest
game changer since the introduction of
cleanskin sheep genetics from South Africa, is
the digital revolution via the National
Broadband Network (NBN). Advancement in
wireless technology is starting to reduce the
need for farmers to be tied to their farm, to do
the jobs like “checking the water” or “checking
the fence”.
It is at the core of our breeding strategy to
develop a sheep that is suited to these emerging
technologies. A hair sheep that not only lacks a
need for the traditional management tasks
associated with wool growing, (checking for
flies, crutching, mulesing, tail docking) but
which has the genetic attributes to reduce the
need for labour in our business, making our
physical presence on farm for many of the day
to day tasks that have bound farmers to their
farms for millennia, redundant.
Opening and closing gates to paddocks
Pasture growth and availability – via
satellite imagery
Farm Security – Monitor sheds and
incoming vehicles and visitors via
camera to your mobile.
Possible technology in the future
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Monitoring of stock health and
movement via GPS tagging.
ASK EWAN – if this all sounds a bit sci-fi then
you’re not alone. I have been working on
remotely managed properties for 10 years as part
of our family property portfolio, with some of
our farms 16 hours drive from our main
operating base in Port Fairy. If you want to
know what systems are suitable for your farm,
I’m always keen to discuss the benefits that new
technologies can bring to sheep farming and at
the same time we can guide you in the right
direction.
In short, we don’t go around the sheep to check
because they have the genetics to look after
themselves, and we have the technology to
monitor the farm.
Things that we can now do remotely on
farm with the NBN
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Checking of water and fence systems
remotely via mobile phone
Weighing, drafting and pedigree
matchmaking via remote yards on water
points
Above: Cleanskin Maiden Ewes from Denis
Russel Genelink flock (FEB 2014)
Genetics – Cherry picking the best traits
from the sheep gene pool to build the
Ballymoyne Dorper
In February this year we were fortunate enough
to purchase the entire run of new generation
ewe lambs from Denis Russels ‘Genelink’ flock
dispersal.
For those who have followed the cleanskin
revolution in Australia, you would know Denis
has been at the forefront in developing
composite cleanskin breeds since importing the
first embryos from South Africa in the mid
1990’s.
We believe that this herd, based on a near 20
years of selection and experimentation,
represents the best group of cleanskin ewe’s
sheep available in Australia today.
These ewes will be run hard at Ballymoyne in
order to identify and highlight profitable
genetics and build on the impressive results
achieved by Denis Russell at ‘Genelink’.
ASK EWAN – Everyone who comes and sees
the ewe flock at Ballymoyne, whether they are
long term Dorper breeders or traditional wool
growers, go away impressed at how good an
elite group of cleanskin ewes can look. Many
breeders’ impression of Dorper sheep is based
on stock at various stages of upgrading from
Merion or other British breeds. At Ballymoyne
we pride ourselves on showing our sheep in
their work clothes so that our customers can
make purchasing decisions based on reality. Not,
fashion magazine airbrushed versions, of what
we think a sheep should be.
LONGEVITY – THE PROFIT TRAIT
The lifetime performance of female sheep is one
of the most important economic traits in sheep
businesses and has the single biggest influence
on farm profit.
Flocks with ewes that ‘last longer’ need fewer
replacement ewes to maintain flock numbers. It
is generally accepted that if a flock requires
fewer replacement ewes, this reduces the cost of
maintaining flock size and increases flock
efficiency. If ewes leave the flock prematurely
through death or culling, fewer ewe lambs can
be sold, higher numbers of hoggets need to be
held over and reared to two tooths, or extra
replacements purchased. There is also more
scope to cull ewes prior to entry into the flock,
so more selection pressure is placed on likely
ewe productivity.
BALLYMOYNE have been running a large
research and development program to develop
genetic lines of ewes with better longevity. We
have selected genetics from breeds that have a
productive life up to 10 - 12 years. These
genetics have been introduced into our
Cleanskin breeding program and we have started
to see the results as ewes enter their 8 & 9th year,
with teeth intact and raising twins with ease.
Given the widespread adoption of precision
sheep production systems in Australia, we know
that there will be a change from age based
culling to variable age culling. At present most
ewes, are kept in the flock until culling at a set
age, commonly 6 years.
At BALLYMOYNE we have identified
potential gains to be made in lifetime
reproductive rate by retaining high performing
ewes longer in the breeding flock. Consequently
a system of variable age culling, where an
individual animal’s level of superiority over
others governs the length of time it remains in
the flock, is used. This allows us to drive
reproductive performance and genetic progress
in both the current and future generations.
PRODUCTION VS PROFITABILITY
‘Make money from meat not meat from
money’ is our mantra, and the pursuit of many
production traits in livestock industries has
come at the expense of some profitable traits
such as longevity and fitness. Animals that need
high inputs to drive production, leave the farmer
open to the marginal cost of production blowing
out in years where input costs rise or lamb
prices fall unexpectedly.
Functional traits, including fitness and longevity,
have been extensively selected for at
BALLYMOYNE due to their impact on herd
profitability, and in response to evidence that
exclusive selection of production traits causes a
correlated reduction in longevity.
We look at profit driven traits that compliment
rather than complicate our production
system. These include: maximizing conception
rate (without the need to feed more), selecting
for natural ability to breed out of season,
unassisted lambing & having two lambs born
alive and weaned per ewe,
Ultimately, Mother Nature selects our sheep for
our environment, and to some degree I think
that we have forgotten what sheep are and what
sheep can do. If you want to make money,
capitalize on what sheep can do best. As sheep
producers, some of us try allot of production
practices that go against the grain in regard to
Mother Nature. Remember sheep are successful;
they have survived for thousands of years with
no know form of defense.
Website – We are currently upgrading our
website, so over the period of Sheepvention it
will be unavailable. Please check back in
regularly, as we will be using it to update
customers on the latest activities and advances
at Ballymoyne. As well as running a blog ‘The
Modern Shepherd’ about all things sheep and
shepherding.