2018 newsletter
We are in the SEX business. Are YOUR rams performing?
We are committed to breeding sheep that are easy care, tough, healthy and structurally sound. Feedback like this shows that we are getting it right:
“I’m very impressed, they have a very low death rate, good weights, are small and robust. It’s hard to find better sheep to be honest … very impressed with them … probably the best sheep I’ve ever farmed and it’s a bloody hard regime on my place! You give them some tucker at this time of year (November) and they’re powering away! The ewe hoggets looking pretty damn good, better than last year! They’re bloody tough, just about like Perendales, bloody good sheep. I just clipped 4.2kg wool for what it’s worth” - Geoff Burton,Taumarunui.
Our tough sheep grow fast and our survival rates are high because we focus on the detail and measure everything, even their skin thickness! In a PhD study at AgResearch our sheep had the thickest skin in that study.
Hello there! LS 2T Ewes
Skin thickness is essential for early survival as lambs don’t put down a layer of fat until 6 weeks old, so the skin is all they have to keep them warm. Recent scans by Chris Spark at WRS, show an average skin thickness of 3.5 over all our rams. His comment “Very impressed with consistently thick skin throughout all rams, with very little variation” is very gratifying.
Our current programs with FE resistant and Black Face sheep keep us focused, innovative and relevant. Our huge advances around Structural Soundness and Constitutional Stamina coupled with 50 years of ancestry records give us a solid and reliable base for new exciting improvements. See below for our new breeding crosses.
Meanwhile, what’s happening on the farm today?
We are excited as we have secured a third lease block giving Simon some extra flats for feed crops and finishing, and lots and lots more hills. We are still hanging off the hillsides in the steep Kimbolton - Rangiwahia country wearing our woolly and thick “extra skin” in the cold climate. Our high stocking rates and structural soundness keep our sheep performing in all conditions and situations.
All our sheep are now named and EID (electronically identification) tagged. Yes, you heard it here, we name and tag all our animals making our recording processes more efficient and giving us 100% accuracy. The Gallagher recording system combined with Zeetags works beautifully for us! Recording made easy and fun! Naming each animal has resulted in a greater connection and interaction and we are seeing behavioural changes and easier stock management. We are monitoring our statistics to see if it translates into other commercial returns.
Lamb & Suffolk Supreme Ram Hoggets. Just weaned @ 100 days
Why we and our sheep are awesome together!
We are a family business and it’s all personal to us. Our sheep are like family, we know where they have come from, their parents and how they have grown. We have muscle tested them, scanned them, SIL recorded them, and looked at each one of them critically several times a year.
We also know each of our sheep and cattle by name. Yes, all 4000 of them! Naming the animals was just another piece to bring it all together. They live off the land and we live off them in a cycle of life. As we named each of them, they seem to respond. Being treated as a part of our family. Being seen individually, more than just a number, changed their stance and behaviour.
Truckies and our workers thought we’re joking and a little mad, and now we hear them calling our animals by their name and getting a lot of enjoyment out of it. Working together seems a lot more fun now somehow.
Being a family business is about people. Coming together and being personally invested in the success of the business has been a core value of Carthew Genetics since 1967 and has resulted in our consistent supply of industry leading rams.
Acknowledgement and connection works at every level in a family business, from children, partners, clients, suppliers, staff, working dogs, sheep and even our latest additions, cattle! How awesome is that! Our kids used to say “tumeke” when something was awesome. It has caught on and now we celebrate being tumeke. We have named ourselves “Tumeke Farms” in recognition.
Coop 2T Rams going to a new home
Where it all started:
All our genetics flow from our original Coopworth (maternal) and Lamb Supreme (terminal) animals. We have full ancestry information on both dams and sires from 1967 with our Coopworths, 1997 for our Lamb Supreme and from 2002 with our Suffolk Supreme.
Coop Rom X:
Over the last few years we have introduced some Romney bloodlines into our maternal Coopworths mix, resulting in a ½ Romney ½ Coop cross. We’ve been rapt with our choice, this cross is solid and performs well with weaning results consistently over 180%. Our Coop Rom X is here to stay!
Black Face:
With clients looking for a Black Face terminal sheep, we sourced the best Suffolk rams and put them over some of our top Lamb Supreme ewes, resulting in our Suffolk Supreme breed. Being a bit too “soft” for our liking, we introduced top Suftex genetics into our mix over the last 2 years and again we’re impressed with the results. They now just need a bit more colour for perfect marking. Watch this space!
Facial Eczema:
10 years ago we started breeding for Facial Eczema. We started using FE Gold approved rams but we’ve been disappointed with the quality of their progeny, especially the phenotype variation.
Coop, Coop RomX & Coop FE twin lambs. Just weaned @ 100 days
Knowing our genetics and our animals structural soundness, 4 years ago we started dosing our own top sires at 0.6, and last year, all bar one passed at 0.6! We now have awesome looking, structurally sound, FE rams ready for sale!
And we didn’t stop here. We also completed an Embryo Transfer (ET) program with our top 30 FE stud ewes, using semen from the top ranked FE Gold Coop Ram in NZ and the best of our home bred sires. Our ET’s are amazing and are looking for a new home. Interested? Call us today.
What’s coming up?
Sustainability:
The world demand for all meat is changing rapidly. Happy meat is now a recognised term, grass fed is a marketing advantage, and sustainable and organic farming practices expected. Meat is even getting measured by its frequent flyer miles needed to get it to market. Our industry is under threat if we don’t start creating “story lines” around our farming and meat production practices.
Land pressure:
Crop, dairy and cattle demands continue to push sheep into hill country where our structural soundness, resilience and survival rates shine and contribute to your bottom line. Lean, naturally grown and juicy meat is going to be in higher demand with lamb growth rates important. We will continue to lead the market in this area.
Sufftex Ram with his girls
Sentient Beings:
The full impact of these law changes are not yet being embraced by our traditional farming community. New Zealand continues to be a world leader and has taken an impactful stance on classifying farming animals as sentient. Under most conditions this change transfers to the animals certain “rights and protections” as to how they are treated and handled. This will become a major impact to all farming operations going forward.
Environmental concerns:
Tourism now earns more overseas dollars than the farming sector and this continues to grow as the cycle way, movie production and adventure activities develop. This will put more pressure on farming to “improve” its environmental footprint and clean up past damage to waterways etc.
Genetics will lead the way:
Chemicals, antibiotics, fertilisers etc will be under more pressure to be banned or alternatives developed so the genetic strength and resilience of animals will become even more important and our International marketing storyline essential. At Carthew Genetics we will continue to be at the forefront of these changes.
Building and maintaining relationships:
Our genetic programs are based on building quality animals that translate into easy handling, resilient and structurally sound, productive sheep. Offspring ratio’s, weight gain, survival rates, and even our thicker skin, make our stud animals desirable. A natural result of our stringent review and culling levels means we put quality before quantity. In the last couple of years demand has been so high we have had to dip into our breeding stock to supply our loyal customers.
LS Ewe Hoggets with their new big name tags
We have now introduced pre-ordering early in the year. This allows us to proactively breed into the quality ranges and numbers our clients desire. This has the side benefit of removing another stress at the busiest time of the year.
So if you are part of our extended family, or want to experience our genetics and quality, please make contact. We would love to get to know you, your business and welcome you into our world.
Simon, Pascale and Family
