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Sunnydale White Suffolk stud was founded in 1996, with the purchase of 9 ewes and 1 ram from Detpa Grove. Since then we have continued to buy some of the best genetics available in rams and ewes from Detpa Grove the Anden, Warburn, Ashmore and Ella Matta studs which have excellent Growth Rates and good confirmation supporting the breed’s qualities.

 

Sunnydale has continued to introduce high ranking genetics into the stud with the purchase in 2020 of industry  leading sires from  Ashmore 19096 we also added two Rams from Ella Matta 190277 and 190092 which has had strong semen sales. We also added another Anden sire 190082.This year’s offering will again  see sons of Warburn 180485 purchased from the 2019 Bendigo elite white Suffolk sale. We continue to search for sires which will continue to have impact within the stud and maintain market trends in eating quality which consumers continue to pursue in eating habits.

 

To measure our own stud’s improvement, we have used the Lambplan performance tool which has helped by providing our commercial breeders with the best information on each animal we run within our stud. All of our sheep are scanned at the required time to evaluate growth potential under commercial conditions. In 2012 we adopted the electronic tagging of all animals which has helped us to follow growth performance & increased data availability which will help the stud management.

 

All sheep are injected with Gudair, 6 in 1, and Eryvac at marking a booster 6 in 1 B12 injection has also been implemented at shearing. Ram Lambs are Scabiguarded at weaning. Ovine Johnes continues to be a well discussed issue for the industry we have continued a strong vaccination program now and this seems to be the way industry will continue to address the issue leaving the MAP program behind.

 

It has been very pleasing to see clients regularly achieving excellent prices for their progeny which enforces our aims of breeding sheep for the commercial prime lamb industry. With the changing focus on value adding for feedlot animals having excellent growth rates will ensure good feed conversion and a quicker sale outcome. We continue to see strong prices for lambs this year as the red meat industry continues to drive strong returns for those committed to producing food for the world.

The industry is changing the way it views performance recording with the focus changing from Carcase Plus to TCP with further information included again  in this years catalogue.