APPROVAL for the continuation of the famous Uardry Merino stud - given by the NSW Stud Merino Breeders’ Association (SMBA) last month - has been overturned.
The controversial decision was made by the Australian Association of Stud Merino Breeders (AASMB) last week when it rejected the flock registration previously signed off by the NSW body.
Graham and Susan Coddington, Dubbo, secured the Uardry stud trademark and intellectual property rights from Tom Brinkworth, who purchased the Uardry property last year - however Mr Brinkworth failed to transfer the registration of the stud to his name.
AASMB president Phil Toland said they had upheld the association’s rules in their decision to reject the Coddingtons’ use of the Uardry name.
Mr Toland said the stud was dispersed, not sold, and therefore the AASMB was dealing with a new stud registration, not a name transfer.
“Our rules state naming rights are not transferable – the AASMB don’t buy and sell stud names, we deal in registrations,” he said.
Mr Toland said the Coddingtons needed to put in an application for the registration of a new stud, something that was overlooked at a NSW level.
He said the AASMB received a letter from former Uardry manager Chris Bowman explaining that the Uardry stud was dispersed and the name should remain a parent stud name of significance in Australia, to which the AASMB council voted on.
“If a stud is dispersed, they are finished - and there is no stud,” he said.
“The way around it would have been if Coddingtons applied to register the name Uardry North or Uardry Park.”
He said the Coddingtons had been “prematurely” given a flock number by the NSW SMBA “due to a misunderstanding”.
Mr Toland said technically the Uardry stud, Uardry Poll stud and Sims Uardry stud still belonged to the Black family as the Brinkworths never “did the paperwork” for the transfer.
When the Coddingtons attempted to exhibit and sell sheep at the Australian Sheep and Wool Show (ASWS) at Bendigo, Victoria, on the weekend and they were literally left out in the cold.
They were unable to show the Uardry Poll sheep as the Australian Sheep Breeders’ Association (ASBA) rules stated all sheep must be bred by the exhibitor, the Coddingtons having bought the Uardry Poll sheep as rams lambs.
Mr Toland said as Uardry Poll was not a registered stud they were also unable to sell the sheep under the Uardry Poll stud name.
Mr Coddington was extremely disappointed that their flock number and entries had been accepted for the ASWS by the ASBA as recently as the week prior to the show.
“The first I heard from a member of AASMB was last week,” he said.
After being shunned from the show shed the Coddingtons paid a hefty fee to display their Uardry Poll rams, however, they were not allowed in the Merino stud display tent as their flock number for Uardry Poll stud was relinquished.
They were relegated to a small tent outside the Dohne breeders display.
“We paid a pretty high fee to be in the stud tent, but we were put up the back where nobody could find us,” Mr Coddington said.
The ASWS wasn’t a complete write off for the Coddingtons.
They topped the Merino sale on Monday when a ram from their Coddington Poll stud sold for $28,000.
The Coddingtons said they had spent a substantial amount of money advertising their Uardry rams for the sale that they were unable to offer.
For Coonamble Dohne breeders Bill and Margie Pye, who secured the Uardry Dohne trademark and prefix in January, it has been a ongoing battle with The Australian Dohne Breeders Association (TABA) to have the stud registered.
“We have had problems with registering it as Uardry, we were given a new prefix and new stud number,” Mr Pye said.
The plan was for the Uardry prefix and stud number (UD30) to be transferred to the Pyes, however, their application has been rejected twice by the Australian Dohne Breeders Association and they have been registered with the prefix and stud number UC207.
“There is self interest from some of The Australian Dohne Breeders Association councillors, hence, we are considering departing the association and doing our own thing. I am very annoyed with how we have been treated,” Mr Pye said.
Despite registration issues, Mr Pye said the Uardry Dohne stud remains under the same management with Allan Clarke the stud classer and Jason Southwell the stud master.
“The stud is managed the same and they are the same sheep, it is just the stud is located at Coonamble now not Hay,” Mr Pye said.
