SRS Sheep, Goats, Alpacas

Breeding highly profitable, easy care SRS® Merinos

Glenwood is situated about 29 kilometres east of Wellington on the Central West Slopes of New South Wales. The property is 600 metres above sea level and averages approximately 650 millimetres (26") of rainfall per year which is neither winter nor summer dominated.

Glenwood runs predominantly a Merino breeding enterprise including 600 stud ewes and 3500 flock ewes. Other supplementary enterprises include cattle trading as the season allows.

The pastures are dominated by winter and summer native perennials which have been complimented by a super and sub clover history.

Today Norm and Pip manage the whole including the landscape, the livestock, the business and the people holisitically.

Norm and Pip are encouraging greater diversity of desirable species with rotational grazing enabling short graze periods and long rest periods.

Glenwood has seen a number of changes since managing in this way. Changes include 100% ground cover, a huge diversity of perennial plant species, an improvement in soil nutrition and microbial activity, an increase in soil organic matter, increased water holding capacity, no feed for artificial fertilisers, minimal chemical use. Glenwood recognises the need with climate variability to have a very resilient land base which can adapt quickly to change. Not only is it sustainable, it is regenerative.

Norm and Pip are managing the livestock so that they can minimize chemical use. They are loweing worm burdens by better grazing techniques and eliminating the need to jet for fly strike through genetics and management.

Through all of the above Norm and Pip have lowered the cost of production or the inputs while dramatically improving the outputs.

Long term management will take the business into the future where consumers and the public are looking for ecologically and ethically sound products and landcapes

Glenwood is also monitoring the progress using indicators for the people, the business and the landscape.

Rams are rotated on a productive perennial pasture and presented for sale out of the paddock.

Norm is passionate about value adding the unique qualities and story of the SRS® fibre.

Glenwood's breeding objective is simply to breed SRS® Merino sheep which are highly productive, profitable and easy care. Currently the ewes produce, on average, 6.5 kilograms of 18.6 micron wool and rear 120% lambs. The aim is to produce 8.0 kilograms of 18.0 micron wool per ewe.

Selection of sheep is based on the following criteria: structure, frame, length of body and body weight; skins must be thin and soft; wools must be long, soft, glossy, white and free of suint; early maturity and positive muscling and fat; all ewes must be fertile and docile; and always remain commerically focused.

The Glenwood wool is distinctive for its exceptional softness, whiteness and crimp definition. The wool has become progressively finer as a result of selecting for high density on a plain bodied sheep.

The sire and dam of each Glenwood stud sheep is recorded. All stud ewes have been mothered up since 2005 by drifting the ewes off as they lamb and tagging and recording information such as whether it was a twin or single and what sort of mother the ewe was. Performance records on wool production, body growth, muscle and fat patterning and fecundity of the progeny are kept. Breeding values are derived for each animal, whether it be the sire, the dam or its progeny.

By identifying the most potent dams it is hoped to one day undertake a successful embryo transfer program. The ewes mothering ability is highly heritable such that the best mothers stand out year after year.

All stud ewes each year are allocated to single sire matings through the classing box by Dr. Jim Watts. The ewes are correlatively mated to ensure that wool fibre density and length, body growth and muscle and fat patterning are each receiving similar selection pressure.

All ewes are wet and dried at lamb marking to identify and cull ewes which are inherently bad mothers. A calm docile ewe is always going to be a better mother and these types of ewes again and again stand out.

Glenwood rams are wrinkle free (above) and have bred these wrinkle free and growthy 9 months old lambs (below) seen here off the board, which are not mulesed.

This procedure is done to ensure that each plain-bodied and wrinkle free ram we choose to use as a sire has a high density of wool follicles in its skin, and a high output of long, fine and evenly sized wool fibres. We require each sire to have 80 or more follicles per square millimetre and fibre length above 0.50 millimetres per day. Average values for traditionally bred Merino sheep are much lower - namely about 55 follicles per square millimetre and 0.30 millimetres per day respectively.

In plain-bodied Merino sheep with high levels of fibre density and fibre length, the fleece consists essentially of fibres that are highly aligned cylinders of uniform diameter and length. The fibres are smooth surfaced (due to the long, cuticular scales of low scale height) and have a high crimp amplitude (deep crimp) and usually low crimp frequency (bold crimp). These fibre properties create a fleece composed of fibre bundles (not staples) of superb fineness, softness, lustre, high elasticity of deep and well-defined crimp.

Examples of the test results for Glenwood sires are listed in Table 1.

Rams are presented out of the paddock.

Each ram has its full pedigree displayed and its breeding values for wool, carcase and fertility traits.

Glenwood SRS® rams, future directions.

Glenwood is run by Norman and Pip Smith and their 5 children Chloe, Amber, Maggie, William and Daisy. Norman is fourth generation Smith on Glenwood where the stud has also been established since 1929. Norm and Pip are particularly passionate about the future of agriculture and the merino industry. They have been heavily involved in differentiating the SRS® wool supply and adding value through the ethical and performance advantages that SRS® can offer.

The Smith Family, left to right: Maggie, Amber, Daisy, Pip, Chloe and Will.

"From a shearers perspective Glenwood's Sheep are far superior to shear than traditional sheep.
This is due to less wrinkled skin which results in less skin cuts and less struggling of the sheep and the shearer.

The shearer's comb travels through the fibre a lot easier because they are not intertwined. This means the shearer can shear more sheep through less effort, and there is more wool in the fleece lines instead of under the table as locks."

- Warren Long, Shearer/Contractor, Wellington NSW