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Christmas Newsletter 2018

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Councils’ Year in Review

Dohne Breeders are to be congratulated on their sale results for 2018 amidst one of the worst droughts in history experienced across most of eastern and central Australia. Nationally, 2089 rams sold at auction for a 82% clearance and a $1542 average.

The wool market after reaching record levels during 2018 has once again show it’s volatility in the last month dropping 240c (at the time if writing). Lamb continues to out value wool by approximately 5/1 and mutton 2.5/1.

It is more imperative than ever that we stick to our type and philosophy. The history of dual purpose sheep in Australia is dismal, few have survived (Bond, Comeback, Cormo, Rambouillet, Corriedale, Polwarth, Zenith, etc). The reason for their demise is that they lose their identity / uniqueness and ultimately head towards a Merino. This begs the question; should we be benchmarking our breed with a Merino or should we be benchmarking ourselves with the maternal XB, the Corriedale or the terminals, or maintain our true individual identity. All sheep breeds have individual attributes it’s imperative that we maintain and promote ours.

The maternal traits, growth rates, approval wool and the unmeasured doing ability are what shape our breed.

Over the years we have seen a natural attrition in registered studs. It is, however, pleasing to note that our current membership hasn’t declined and we now have a core group of dedicated Breeders producing an enviable product. We welcome three new members; Australia – Liphuyzen Farming, Deniliquin New South Wales and Cray Brook Mayanup Western Australia, International – El Piramidal, Montevideo Uruguay.

Our current members are selling more rams at a higher average. Across Australia in 2010, 59 studs sold 1951 rams at auction for an average of $1387. In 2017, 42 studs sold 2432 rams at auction for an average of $1539. The breeders that remain are dedicated Dohne breeders, producing a quality, competitive product.

These breeders can hold their heads high as they are responsible for the improvement in the maternal characteristics and the ‘type’ of the modern Australian Merino.

As you would be aware, the association has moved our Financial year to April 1 – March 31. This will allow for audited financial statements to be presented at the AGM.

I welcome Don Mills back to council. Don’s experience will be invaluable to an extremely proactive council.

A big thank you to all councillors and sub committee members for their dedication, time and effort.

Christmas break – The secretary office will be closed for Christmas holidays starting Tuesday 18 December 2018 and reopening Tuesday 8 January 2019.

A Merry Christmas and prosperous New Year to all.

John Nadin ADBA President

States’ Year in Review
Victoria
Australian Sheep & Wool Show, Bendigo, Victoria.
This was by far the busiest 3 days ever experienced at Bendigo, with Friday exceeding everyone’s expectations.
Why were we so busy?
With well above average sheep, lamb & wool prices the astute producer is looking for ways to capitalise & the Dohne fits the bill, being Dual Purpose, Self Replacing, etc.
On display outside the tent were 5 Dohne lambs donated by Alistair and Cheryl Greenshields from Glenaroua Dohne Stud. These lambs were in a ‘Guess the average weight’ competition the lambs were auctioned on Sunday by Landmark and purchased by Colin McKenna, Midfield Meats for $400 per head, with all proceeds going to Lyme Disease Association.
Once inside the tent visitors could also enter a ‘Guess the fleece weight’ competition.
Both competitions created plenty of interest, far more than we had expected and well done to the organisers.
The display rams for showing were an excellent advertisement for the breed and a credit to all studs involved. Our show judges were Rachel Browne, Chirniminup Dohne Stud, Western Australia and Martin Pattie, Glencairn Stud, New Zealand. They did a great job to select the champions and explain to the audience the reasons why. This was also very beneficial to the stud masters, well done.
The participating studs were;
South Australia; Hamilton Run, Glen Holme and Ulooloo.
New South Wales; Macquarie, Kardinia, Calga, Uardry and DD Dohnes.
Victoria; Stirling, Glenaroua, Koonik, West Wail and Aero.
It was great to see visitors in the tent from Western Australia, South Africa, South America and New Zealand to the biggest Sheep Show in the world.
Just for something a bit different, I organised a banquet at the Bunja Thai restaurant on Friday night, over 30 people attended, the food was fantastic and a great night was had by all, any suggestions for next year?

Victorian Stud Auction Sales Review.
Three studs held on property sales, Koonik, Stirling and West Wail and Victoria also holds a multi-vendor Invitational Sale at Ballarat which we shared the venue with the Corriedale Association of Victoria. Participating Dohne studs were; Aero, Glenaroua, Kardinia, Macquarie and Stirling.
Here’s the wrap; Offered 236, Sold 165, Clearance 70%, Top $6250 Average $1553.
Overall good results considering the seasonal conditions being experienced by many clients.

Fairfax Sheep Week in June was held over 9 days this year with displaying being conducted across 3 states. On farm displays at Kardinia, Glenaroua, Stirling and Koonik Dohne Studs. Group displays were held at St Arnaud, Victoria with the following participating Dohne studs; Kardinia, Koonik, Macquarie and Stirling these studs also travelled to Penola South Australia, where they displayed along with Glen Holme and Ulooloo Dohne studs.

Sheepvention, Hamilton Victoria.
Saw a cold and wet event, with very good display of rams in the DOHNE marquee by West Wail, Stirling, Macquarie, Glenaroua, Burnbank and Aero. Koonik displays at their own site and reported a very good level of interest. We also had a good level of genuine enquiries, with rams sold privately in the tent. For next year we are already looking to improve our display and could have at least one South Australian stud in attendance. We are aiming to have at least 10 studs in attendance to create a vibrant and busy environment, with guest speakers to cover topics of interest.

Have a Very Merry Christmas and Happy New Year (safe travels)
Stephen Reddie, Victorian President

$6250 top price for Victoria – Macquarie Dohne Stud.

Councils’ Annual Face to Face Meeting
Council will conduct the annual face to face meeting over three days in February. This provides the opportunity for sub committees to present researched recommendations to council. If any members have topics/issues that they would like council to address at this meeting please email Cameron Hills secretary@dohne.com.au.

2019 Dohne Journal
National Promotions has decided to produce another high-quality journal again next year.
These journals will be published early next year.

Like last year these journals will be distributed to each state so that they can be promoted at next year’s field days and sales.

Please return booking forms by Wednesday 19 December 2018 to admin@dohne.com.au
Adverts are not required until the Friday 15 February 2019.

2019 Australian Sheep and Wool Show
SALE GUIDELINES

  • All Show sheep will be machine shorn on 01/03/2019 with a readable mobile generated eartag-body photo sent to the ADBA Secretary by 07/03/2019.
  • A minimum of 1 and a maximum of 8 entries per Stud.
  • A minimum of 50% must be 2016 and/or 2017 drop with Show entry and tethered butts to the centre during opening hours.
  • Those remaining will be 2018 drop Display sheep to be hitched at the rear of the hitching panel or loose housed in the pen no crates.
  • Show sheep only, have the option of entry into a catalogued Sunday Helmsman Auction.
  • 2 Show Classes only, pairs without any linkages and singles.
  • Each Class will have State subdivisions with 2 State Finalist ribbons providing entry into the National Final.
  • Cost will range between $100 and $200 per ram with different rates for Show and Display sheep.
  • Individual stud teardrop banners will be allowed outside the Tent.

The ADBA will no longer process entries. All entries will be processed by you through the Bendigo Show Website.

2018 Dohne Marquee at the Australian Sheep and Wool Show, Bendigo VIC

Brett’s Blurb (Brett Wilson, Dohne Data Manager)
It has been a busy year for me with more changes to my work life and exciting times in my sporting like.

Dohne work has been good this year, I fell behind a little early in the year juggling other work commitments but have now caught back up. Council and I have been working on increased focus on my quality assurance work with a formal feedback loop to council for every data submission for the 2018 drop. In addition, I have been working closely with several studs and Sheep Genetics to include a wider range of data in the analysis to get ASBVs back to studs for things like visual scores and improving the maternal ASBVs.

For the first half of 2018, I tried to continue working in My Department of Primary Industries role with a mixture of commuting to Orange from Leura and working part time. This did not work out and I finished working for the DPI in August. As a result, I am now looking for more work both in my local community and increasing my data management and analysis work for the sheep industry.
I have all the systems and experience to help all stud and commercial Dohne and Merino flocks with data management, Sheep Genetics analysis or Within Flock analysis for production of Estimated Breeding Values and a wide variety of Indexes.
So please pass the word around your clients and contacts if anybody needs this sort of work.

For those members that do not know I am a competitive shooter in the sport of Rimfire Benchrest. The sport involves using 22 rimfire target rifles to shoot at paper targets 50m away; trying to hit a 4mm wide “10” ring 25 times on each of 3 paper targets that make up a match.
I currently shoot under two organisations Sporters Shooters Association of Australia (SSAA) and Rimfire Benchrest Australia (RBA).
From results in 2016 and 2017, I earnt the No. 1 qualifying spot on the SSAA Australia “A” team to travel to Manresa Spain in July 2018. The trip to Spain was an incredible experience. The competitive shooting was conducted over 4 days. The first 2 days was the teams’ component, combined with 2 Aussie team mates to form a team of 3 we shot 6 targets each to finish a respectable 5th. The final 2 days are the individual competition, shooting another 6 targets. 2nd 3rd and 4th place shooters all shot the same score (me included in that group) 1 point behind the winner shooting a score of 1495 points out of a possible 1500. Sadly, I ended up 4th on countback.
With all 4 days of shooting combining all 12 targets, I was the 3rd best shooting in the world. I had an amazing time and made many friends and the lamb was good eating but I did not see a single sheep for the trip.
The focus has now turned to RBA events. At the beginning of December, I defended my RBA National title win from 2017 and have successfully qualified for the Australian Team traveling to South Africa in 2019 to compete in WRABF World titles. Sadly, I need to find some more work before this trip as there is no funding for this trip.

I wish all Dohne breeders a Merry Christmas and Happy data collecting for 2019.

Brett Wilson 4th Individual World Championships Manreswa Spain 2018.

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Australian Dohne Breeders' Association3 days ago
AuctionsPlus 896
Tue, 26 March 2024, 1:00 PM (SYD, NSW) AEDT
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https://auctionsplus.com.au/auctions/sheep/national-lamb-sale/160-store-wether-lambs/123041-523
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