DOHNEMERINOA U S T R A L I A
Apparel Wool, Meat for a Feast

June Newsletter

dohne matters new

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Council Report

Australian Sheep and Wool Show
Again this year the show committee has decided to participate in the judging arena at the Australian Sheep and Wool Show, Bendigo VIC, on the 14th to 16th July 2017.
All rams entering this event MUST have their data in the 21 June 2017 analysis or before or they will not be eligible to enter.
Showing Schedule (emailed to members 23/1/2017) – Click Here
For more information contact Murray Rogerson 03 5577 8248 or Don Mills 0427 872 808.
Entries will be sent out soon.

AGM
This years’ AGM will be held in Naracoorte South Australia on the Wednesday 9th August and will incorporate a three state sire day (SA, VIC, NSW). This event will follow on from the Hamilton Sheepvention.
The sire day will commence at 12 noon and the AGM at 4pm. A dinner will be held that night.
Accommodation and dinner venue details in the next newsletter.

Council Roadshows
The final leg of the council roadshows will include a webinar hook up that will allow those that missed the WA & SA presentation and those that can’t attend to listen to the topics being delivered. However, to grasp the full concept of some major breed decisions and to be involved in discussions, council highly recommends members attend.
The NSW Armidale roadshow will include an Eastern States meeting and include the elections of office bearers.

NSW
Monday 19 June – 12 noon
MLA Office, building W41a, The Short Run
UNE, Armidale NSW

Roadshow map NSW armidale small

Victoria/Southern NSW
Wednesday 21 June – 11am
Border Inn, Moama NSW

For more information please contact John Nadin 0427 474 610 john@macquariedohnes.com.au

Sheep Genetics Upcoming Regional Forums
Western Australia – Brookton  Thursday 15 June
Registration for these is via the Sheep Genetics website.

2017 Journal
Thanks you for the overwhelming support.
This journal goes to print in June and will be available at the Australian Sheep and Wool Show, Bendigo VIC. Council will then endeavour to distribute the journals to each state. Members will be notified by their respective state bodies as to the pick up point/s.

Development of the Dohne Merino in South America
Following an invitation by the Chile and Uruguay Dohne Associations, Allan Casey visited South America in May and June 2017 to assist with the development of the Dohne breed being undertaken by the Chile and Argentina Associations. The visit focused on Patagonia (southern Chile and Argentina) and Uruguay.

The success of the activities conducted were very much a result of the work carried out by Hugo Vera President Chile Dohne Association, Gabriel Capurro President Uruguay Dohne Associations, Roberto Cardellino, Francisca Petrovich and Francisco Sales. In addition, the many ram breeders from Chile and Uruguay who provided sheep for the workshops and Classing were critical to the success of the workshops.

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Francisca Petrovich receiving her ‘Certificate of Achievement” from the 2016 West Australian Dohne Ram Breeders Workshop

The development of Dohne sheep in South America is progressing very well. The Dohne has a tremendous future due to the ability of well-bred Dohnes to increase sheep returns while reducing the management costs of a high number of large productive commercial flocks. The high-quality people involved:  breeders, advisers and researchers, along with the high quality of ram breeding flocks being developed, will ensure the great potential of Dohne sheep can be achieved.

Recently formed Dohne Associations in Chile and Uruguay can be expected to be a driving force in the progress of the Dohne in South America.

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Chile Ram Breeders workshop – Classers Grade

Workshops to assist development
During the visit 79 people attended four Dohne Ram Breeder and Classer workshops. Approximately 55 of these people from Uruguay, Chile and Argentina successful completed the ADBA Ram Breeder Workshop. These people included the majority of Dohne ram breeders in Uruguay and Chile as well as their technical and research support professionals.

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Uruguay Ram Breeders workshop – The Dohne Type

In addition, 11 people who work in Uruguay, Chile and Argentina have been trained and successfully completed the Dohne Classer Workshop. It is expected that 9 of these people will be able to provide the Approved Classer service essential to maintain soundness and Dohne type. Good support and coordination of these Approved Classers will be provided by the Uruguay and Chile Associations.

Publications
As a result of the workshops the availability of publications in Spanish that can be used as educational resources for breeders and their service providers has been greatly increased.

As resources for the workshops outlined above the ADBA Ram Breeders Manual (translated by Francisca Petrovich and Roberto Cardellino) and the ADBA Bylaws (translated by Diego Gimeno and Gabriel Capurro) were produced. Both are valuable ongoing resources and the translation will be updated as needs be. In addition, the workshop PowerPoint slides (translated by Roberto Cardellino) used in the workshops will be distributed to the people who attended.

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Chile Ram Breeders Workshop – the theory

The Dohne Handbook (translated by Roberto Cardellino) is also available. The Handbook is targeted at commercial producers and was translated into Spanish in 2016 for the Global Dohne Conference in Australia. This very useful booklet, principally for commercial breeders, needed the support of additional publications aimed at assisting ram breeders.

The breeding focus
In general, the sheep environment and sheep markets in Patagonia and Uruguay are very different to the majority of Australia. Local ram breeding flocks are importing good quality genetics from Australia. In the great majority of situations these have been skilfully selected and used by breeders in Chile, Uruguay and Argentina in the development of local ram breeding flocks.

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Classers Grade Evaluation in Uruguay

Local flocks, with a local focus and high quality breeding programs will provide a very important advantage in the quest to breed the type of Dohne needed for the local conditions.

Based on market conditions the focus in South American flocks will be balanced more toward fleece weight relative to body weight than is currently the case in the majority of Australian ram breeding flocks. This focus will be well within the Dohne type as it has been developed.

It is critical that all the requirements for breeding Dohnes in South America be carefully designed to match the local situation.

Thank you to the many breeders and associated professionals in South America who made the activities a great success.

Allan Casey – ADBA Technical Advisor and Approved Classer.

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Classers Grade Evaluation in Chile.

 

Brett’s Blurb (Brett Wilson, Dohne Data Manager)
The Dohne newsletter now includes a monthly article from the Dohne database manager Brett Wilson. These articles are aimed at providing some tips and tricks that might help. To start with there will be a series of articles on getting the most out of your Dohne recording.

Part 3: Data recording
The past two Brett’s Blurbs have been about the initial stages of data collection and some recommendations on how to improve NLW data. The remaining data collection includes
•    Weaning Weight (WWT),
•    Post Weaning Weight (PWT)
•    Optional recording carcase Scan for Eye Muscle Depth and Fat (EMD & FAT), if recorded a body weight needs to be recorded at the same time.
•    Fleece measurements including Greasy Fleece Weight (GFW), Fibre Diameter (FD) and Fibre Diameter Co-efficient of Variation (FDCV).
•    Assessors Grade.
The Ram Breeders manual has all the fine detail required to capture this information according to the bylaws.

Practical Guide

Dohne Database

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Australian Dohne Breeders' Association
Australian Dohne Breeders' Association
Australian Dohne Breeders' Association4 days ago
AuctionsPlus 896
Tue, 26 March 2024, 1:00 PM (SYD, NSW) AEDT
Lot 523 - 160 Store Wether Lambs (STANTHORPE, QLD)
https://auctionsplus.com.au/auctions/sheep/national-lamb-sale/160-store-wether-lambs/123041-523
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