"The Reeveses' flock has made spectacular progress and their rams are in great demand by farmers wanting to cut down costs, and not end up with worms that became resistant to chemical drenches, which is an ever-increasing risk." The Warren philosophy can be summed up by the conviction that the highest genetic merit belongs to sheep that best cope with competition and adversity. Warren uses professional stock judge Ian Walsh of Falkirk Genetics to grade his replacement animals for "structure and physiology", and contends he has proof of correlation between form and function. The New Zealand Sheepbreeders Association administers the affairs for those breeds of sheep currently under its umbrella whilst actively promoting the stud breeding sheep industry. He credits much of Rawahi's success to stockman Alan Jones, who brings with him 40 years' experience and is a vital part of the operation. Worm Resistance The fungus responsible for facial eczema was identified. For wool, Warren uses another outside expert - David McPherson from Masterton. Recently at Beef+Lamb NZ's 2015 sheep industry awards for genetics he was recipient of the SIL-ACE dual purpose for meat yield award. Warren has chosen to work with romneys partly for historical reasons, in that the farm has had a long tradition of romney breeding, but also for production-related reasons. — Dr. Clive Dalton. The Reeves family came to the Waimai Valley from Tologa Bay on the East Coast. "Cheap rams are costly. Twenty one thousand Wairere ewes produce Romney, Composite and Dominator rams for sale. The integrity of genetics will be always revealed in time," he says. With further access to testing, Cold Tolerance testing added to lamb survival, and gene marker testing for footrot starting being recorded. But that is not the way Warren works. The Waimai Romney Stud is situated on the West Coast of Waikato, north of Raglan Harbour in the Te Akau district. Our best estimate is that in excess of 30,000 WRIG rams will be used annually across New Zealand flocks. The climate is very challenging, wet in the winter and summer dry, with the major animal health issues being facial eczema and intestinal worms. Cold Tolerance. He is one of about a dozen tussock country clients Rawahi has. And apply it he has, testified by his breeding achievements. 841 Waimai Valley Road View Map. M: 027 457 3615 Henry Fell, in Intensive Sheep Management posits that the Romney is, “A breed which ha[s] all the virtues save one, that of prolificacy… will thrive happily at extraordinary densities and seems to enjoy it.” A number of large Romney flocks in New Zealand have in the last several decades achieved better than 1.7 lambs for every ewe exposed to the ram, showing much better prolificacy than Fell had observed in England. "The result was a massive breakthrough where scientists came up with a protocol where the fungus was grown in the lab, the toxin extracted, and young rams were dosed with small amounts to measure their resistance. Warren applies rigorous standards to his operation. I think farmers never want to pay as much as the rams are worth," Coop says. "There is devil in the detail and you have to be ruthless with the way you manage sheep. "He's at the top of his game. Warren says the structure of his sheep allows them to move on to a huge range of country, nation-wide. The foundation was set in 1929, when Len Daniell started a registered Romney stud. Over the last few years it has extended it’s role to include research and marketing of Romney wool. After 30 years of hard dedicated work, a group of breeders formed a group called FEGold which identified those breeders leading facial eczema genetics. Beef+Lamb NZ are also filling the leadership vacuum by raising the profile of the industry. He and his wife Nicky had similar jobs in high finance for 10 years, including stints overseas, before they decided to earn a living off the land. Thirty years later, John has proved the doubters, that he was right, and the rest were wrong, and where Waimai Romney is today is a credit to his perseverance. As one of New Zealand's top romney breeders, Warren sets paramount store on the ability of his lambs to survive. Computer-generated knowledge is what sets present-day farmers apart from their grandparents and parents, says Warren. Some leaders are going yet higher, still with good s… We've had a look at the data and we can't find any obvious thing and the figures have been high for a number of years," Young says. For Richard, the switch was made because of the lack of satisfaction working with "intangible" financial products compared with the fulfilment that comes from a hands-on job that actually produces something. Nevertheless, when Warren speaks, it is evident that his background in the pressured world of commerce has played a part in his farming success. He had absolute confidence in himself, and self-belief that what he was doing was right and one day it would benefit the wider farming community. — Dr. Clive Dalton. "Dad loved farming and was very passionate about it and especially about genetics and all its challenges. These breeders have got to be congratulated for the time and effort they put in for the wider industry. Started EMA scanning all sale rams hoggets, actively seeking high meat and growth sires. They started selecting for worm resistance by facial egg counting ram hoggets. A "short grass" grazing policy means all classes of stock are subjected to pressure and testing each year with the tail always removed. "In any business people can be their own worst enemy, regrettably this is often learnt in hindsight. © Waimai Romney document.write(new Date().getFullYear()). Our vision at Waimai Romney is to breed rams that have the right combination of health and production traits, while being structurally sound, to enable New Zealand hill country sheep … On that score, he has been rated twice as good as any breeder in the country - … South Wairarapa romney breeder Richard Warren and stockman Alan Jones with 708/11, the 4th #1 ram for New Zealand, bred at Rawahi. waimairomney@gmail.com It's a tough road being a ram breeder, they don't always get rewarded as well as they should at times. Working to improve sheep breeds, maintain their purity, collect pedigree information, and encourage the use of performance records. Waimai Romney are one of only a handful of sheep breeders throughout New Zealand who have both FeGold and WormFec Gold Accreditation, which goes to show that Dad was a true pioneer in sheep genetic breeding.”, Alastair Reeves Increase your profitability by switching to Wairere UK, an award-winning ram breeder, producing New Zealand Romney breeding stock that bounce back after hard times Further sheep statistics can be viewed here. Rams with high resistance were then used as future sires." The property has been farmed by the Reeves Family since 1932 and today totals 800 effective hectares, of which 180 is leased, of steep to rolling hill country.The stud is managed by Alastair Reeves and today comprises around 900 SIL (Sheep Improvement Ltd) recorded ewes. Waimai Romney Started mating ewe hoggets allowing further genetic progress. For 60 years Les managed the Rosedale Romney stud with the breeding objectives of an easy care lambing from a high fertility base, a solid deep carcass to typify the type of Romney he regarded as necessary for lamb growth and ewe flushing, and with a huge emphasis placed on wool style and type Les saw Rosedale Romneys twice win the coveted Golden Fleece of New Zealand. It meant his flock achieved an unprecedented treble, being number one for meat yield, wool quality, and survival, in the same year. Wairere has been the number one brand by sales over the past twenty five years. He explains that if a flock is isolated and uses only its own rams, it is impossible to assess how good the sheep are against other flocks, and to separate the genetic effects from the farm effect. Martin Coop, who was a judge for a different set of sheep industry awards, said the prize Warren received was "as good as it gets". 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