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Bendigo Australian Sheep & wool Show |
Cross-Border Interest, by Peter J Austin, Stock & Land edition July , 2010
Merino & Poll Merino breeders Karen and David Ridgway from the Ridgway Advance stud at Bordertown, SA, will make their forth visit to Bendigo this year and are now regular at the Annual Australian Sheep and Wool Show.
They will again display a selection of their sheep in one of the marquees, an option that David said gave them the chance to present their animals for inspection and to engage with established and potential clients without the constraints imposed by judging schedules.
He said it also meant they could talk with clients and other stud breeders about their breeding aims and the direction they have set for their stud into the future.
This year the Ridgway Advance Stud will also sell two rams entered in the Monday sale catalogue, an option that David Ridgway said was not normally open to them in most years because the sale usually clashed with their participation in the South Australian South East Merino Field days.
He explained that the SE Field days usually started on the Tuesday after Bendigo which meant they had to ravel straight back to Bordertown at the end of the three days show program.
"But this year there is a week in between the two events so we will be able to stay for the sale" David said.
Founded on Collinsville and Banavee bloodlines, David said their Ridgway Advance Stud was about 80 per cent Poll Merino with the odd horned ram used from time-to-time to maintain wool quality.
He said their emphasis was on plain bodied sheep with wool able to stand up to the conditions in western and central Victoria.
Their own wool clip ranges in average fibre diameter from 16 micron (um) at the fine end with no line broader than 20um.
He said they were not part of Jim Watts 'Soft Rolling Skin (SRS) program but followed the same principles, selecting animals with pliant, supple skin that produced a long staple of deeply crimped wool.
'With plain bodied sheep you need that long staple and deep crimp to keep the fleece weight up" he said.
Artificial insemination was used extensively to limit the number of sires and accelerate the imprint of the desired genetics across the 2500 ewe flock, about half of which are registered.
David & Karen Ridgway also look to turn their oldest age group of ewes off at 4.5 years allowing them to bring more of the next generation of young ewes into the flock.
Their big, plain bodied sheep were a genuine dual purpose animal David said, able to produce quality wool and still bring significant returns from lamb sales.
"That had "kept us going" during recent years, when wool prices were depressed" he said.
But now the wool market had picked up he said there was now 'a bit of money to be made out there'
At present prices David said when a lamb hit the ground it should be possible to make it return $150 after 12 months, 'if you were prepared to work at it"
He said they had recently sold young wethers over hooks at Bordertown for $4.90 a kilogram, meaning a reasonable wether hogget at 26-27kg returned close to $130.
Ridgway Advance Rams - 1 Merino & 1 Poll both sold at the Bendigo Sale for $3750
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