The focus for the first half of the year was the Feature Breed Celebration at ASWS in Bendigo in July. Thank you to everyone who helped make this such a great success! We hosted a celebration dinner at the Shamrock Hotel which was a great opportunity to gather socially with judges and new and old attendees. We also hosted the second site visit to Coonong Station for the AMSEA Dohne Merino Evaluation. All information has now been gathered and the results will be available soon. Again, thanks to Tom and Sophie Holt for hosting this valuable trial and all staff and volunteers for the huge amount of work you have done over the past years. It was great to travel through NSW in September and catch up with fellow Dohne Merino breeders, and listen to their valuable insights into our breed. On a personal note, it was heartening to see that crops and feed can actually grow- just add water! To see the wool of our breed handle the extreme rainfall events that have occurred in NSW was a highlight. Continue reading →

The year seems to have flown by quickly, and considering all the things coming up for the Dohne Merino breed, the next probably will too! In September Liz and I had the privilege of visiting all studs in Western Australia. Thank you to everyone for your hospitality and for sharing your breeding philosophies, concerns and views regarding the Dohne Merino breed. It was great to put faces to names and we hope these relationships grow in the future. In 2024 we intend to travel to the Eastern States and meet as many as possible there too. Sales for the year have been variable; quality rams have been well supported, but the lack of station orders have made clearance difficult. From what I’ve gathered the shedding breeds have become very popular due to a combination of lack of shearers, cost of shearing, and lower wool prices. This has certainly hurt our breed and other Merinos, but I feel confident that with rising wool and lamb prices (especially for un-mulesed), our breed can re-gain market share. Towards this goal, the ADBA continues to invest in research, such as the AMSEA trial at Coonong Station. A Field Day will be held there on Wednesday 21st February to release the most up to date data. This includes a first for AMSEA: MEQ (meat eating qualities). I urge any interested people to attend this day and the de-brief at Narrandera the following morning. Thank you to the Trial Committee and Tom and Sophie Holt and staff for making this possible. Continue reading →

Council has again this year, been working on behalf of all members to promote the Dohne breed, uphold breed standards and ensure that the Dohne breed and the Association has a positive future. In addition to Councils' ongoing standard operations of facilitating the ADBA, the appointment of Kate Brabin (AOK) to undertake a review of both the Councils operations and improvements that can be made within the breed, has been a positive step. Ms Brabin is in the process of providing a report from her independent review, and this will be thoroughly considered at the Council Face-to-Face meeting in February. 2022 saw a change in format of the annual Dohne Journal; with the Promotions Committee and Australian Community Media (ACM) collaborating to create a National Dohne Liftout that was released in July. The circulation was much greater than what we achieve by distributing to individual studs, and I would like to thank all members who contributed to this publication which was distributed via The Land, Stock & Land, QLD Country Life, Sock Journal and the Farm Weekly. The Sire Evaluation Trial at Coonong Station in NSW, had its first open day in June. This day included; guested speakers, trade displays, progeny displays, plus progeny reports provided by AMSEA. A great day was had by all. Reports on this trial can be found in the "Merino Superior Sires Number 28/2022" issue, with a very positive write up on the Coonong Dohne Trial. We look forward to a prosperous and fulfilling 2023, and wish all members and their families a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year. Continue reading →

Council has again this year been working on behalf of members to promote the Dohne breed and encourage breeders to maintain a high level of integrity and accuracy with data recording and reporting. The majority of members are to be congratulated on timely and accurate data submission which benefits both individual studs and the breed as a whole. The Sire Evaluation Trial being held at Coonong Station in NSW is progressing well, with data being collected as per AMSEA guidelines. An open day is proposed for June 2022 and will be accessible to any interested party. Ram sales at public auction exceeded 2000 in 2021, which was the largest number of rams sold since 2017, and the average price was $1623. The ADBA is currently in a sound financial position and aims to appoint a Breed Development Officer in 2022, to enhance the exposure of the Dohne breed and assist Council with new marketing and operational ideas. Continue reading →

The heavens opened for much of drought-stricken NSW in early 2020 and continued through winter and spring. However, some areas of NSW, WA, VIC and SA received the break late and many areas of QLD and the North West division of NSW remain in drought conditions. Members are to be congratulated on their ram sale results off the back of prolonged drought, low wool prices and low national breeding ewe numbers. Continue reading →

Congratulations on the successful ram sales conducted across the country especially considering the drought much of Australia is and has experienced. Nationally rams sold at auction to a top of $13000 and an 82% average clearance rate. In some areas wool producing breeding ewes are down to 10-12% of the normal numbers. The drought has had a significant affect on the national breeding flock and if it continues the industry is in danger of losing markets from sheer lack of supply. Continue reading →