Newsletter August 2019

WELCOME to our newsletter for 2019.

With another dry year upon us, what else is there to do but dream? I recently attended the AWI Shearing Shed Design Open Day at Dubbo and was impressed with the design that shearing contractor Hilton Barrett has developed with the support of AWI over the past several years. The shed addresses the concerns of all members of the wool harvesting team including workflow efficiencies, workplace safety, quality wool clip preparation and animal welfare.

Now we just need the season to turn around a bit more so that we can get started on building our own dream shed! Meanwhile, we have been upgrading our sheep yard infrastructure across our properties, with a new set of Stockpro yards completed at "Yarrawa" and work underway on the ugrades to the sheep yards at "Rocklyn".

In other news, our Stud and flock ewes have now finished lambing, with plenty of twins in the 2019 drop. Work continues to fast-track our genetic gain through DNA sampling and genomic testing as part of the MerinoLink DNA stimulation project.

Our sires are also performing well in the two MerinoLink Central Test Sire Evaluations that Rocklyn has been involved in this year. Once again we will have a display at the SWS Merino Field Day leading up to our on-property ram sale in September. I encourage interested buyers to contact me to discuss how this year’s Rocklyn sale rams can benefit their flocks.