DOHNE breeders and producers are participating in a quality assurance system that allows them to share their story - in the form of images, videos and text - all the way down the wool handling and processing supply chain to spinners and weavers. They are some of the 1000 grower members of The Schneider Group's paddock-to-wool Authentico Integrity Scheme. The Authentico brand was launched in the 1990s, but it's really taken off in the past five years as a key plank is recognising woolgrowers who no longer mules their sheep. Continue reading →

"It's a really nice meat - good flavour and really good texture too." Tony Smith, Rawnsley Park Station, Hawker, SA DOHNES have given Rawnsley Park Station a much-needed profitability boost, being used in the outback destination's high-end restaurant. The Rawnsley Park Station tourism experience, at Hawker in the Flinders Ranges of South Australia, began in 1968 with one tourist cabin. More than 50 years later, the Smith family has 35 holiday cabins, eight eco villas, a caravan park and a restaurant which has a menu with an outback flair, while using lamb bred and raised on the property. Dohne sheep have played a big role in Rawnsley Park's success, with the switch from a traditional Merino operation about a decade ago allowing the family to run a low maintenance operation which caters to their first priority, the tourism business. Owner Tony Smith first started using Dohne rams in 2010, as he thought the breed would suit the country. Continue reading →

Five studs who specialised in Dohnes were represented at the show with the breed's marquee focusing on an element of education. "We have a fleece judging competition, which is a group of three fleeces and it's judged on the uniformity for our short wool and our long wool sections," "But the rest of the show for us is to show plenty of rams and ewe on display and the rest of it is basically education," Continue reading →

WELCOME to the 2022 National Dohne Liftout publication. Another successful year has been experienced by the Dohne breed, with excellent sheep and meat prices across the board. Interest in Dohne ewes continues to increase as restockers seek to source breeders for both their self-replacing sheep enterprises as well as terminal operations. The Australian Dohne Breeders’ Association Council and sub committees have once again put in numerous hours of work to facilitate a highly functioning organisation aiming to promote the Dohne breed for seedstock producers and associated commercial producers. Please enjoy the content of this publication. Continue reading →