THE Yanko Merino stud, Jerilderie, will exhibit at the South West Slopes Stud Breeders Merino Field Day for the first time, with eight polled and horned rams on show.
The Riverina stud started breeding rams in the early 1980s, with Poll Merinos added in 2012.
Stud principals Hugh and Heather Cameron, with help from their son Ian, run 800 stud and 5000 commercial ewes on native grasslands.
The Yanko clip averages 20.2-micron, with average cuts of 8.5 kilograms of wool per ewe.
“The Yanko sheep are heavy cutting, and have bright, soft handling wool that stands up in any climate,” Mr Cameron said.
“Fertility and structural soundness are of utmost importance.”
The Yanko’s breeding objectives are backed up with consistently good results in commercial sheep sales, with their 2017 young ewes topping Jerilderie John Wells Memorial Sale at $252 a head.
Five-and-a-half-year-old ewes made $216 on AuctionsPlus and wether lambs averaged $110 on AuctionsPlus.
Stud sire The Yanko Enfield has also had good results in sire evaluation, with the highest clean fleece weight percentage at the Jugiong Sire Evaluation site.
He was also the top performing sire for the Wool Production Plus index.
Sons of Enfield will be among the rams on display at the Harden field day.
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The Yanko has this year begun the DNA Stimulation Project to gain a full pedigree of the stud flock and allow high performing poll ewes to be identified, resulting in increased Poll Merino numbers in the stud.
“It will also give greater accuracy for the stud’s ASBVs (Australian Sheep Breeding Values), allowing more accurate benchmarking across the industry,” Mr Cameron said.
Ian has recently returned to the stud after completing a Bachelor of Economics and Agriculture at university, and will be showcasing The Yanko’s sale rams at Harden, alongside his mother Heather.
Rams are sold throughout NSW, Queensland, South Australia and Victoria.
The stud’s on-property sale, on September 27, will include 70 polled and horned rams. Last year’s sale topped a $3800 and averaged $1758.