INTEREST in the SuperBorders group is growing, with half a dozen new members in the past 18 months.
SuperBorders was established in 1999 as a group of like-minded Border Leicester breeders who were performance recording with the aim to increase productivity and profitability for their commercial clients.
It currently has more than 20 members from four states - NSW, Victoria, South Australia and Western Australia.
Recently elected SuperBorders president Graeme Golder, Kegra stud, Temora, said the new members included well-established breeders, along with some young, enthusiastic producers who are passionate about the breed.
"We've had some new members from Vic and SA, and one in WA," Mr Golder said.
"Over the past few years we have had a few breeders retire from the industry so the new members have come in at the right time."
The SuperBorders brand identifies Border Leicester rams individually ranked by Lambplan as having above average genetics for the breed, offering superior performance for prime lamb production.
SuperBorder members are fielding good enquiry from potential buyers in the lead up to spring stud sales, and a big part of the increased interest is the strong focus on data, especially for traits like fertility and birthweight.
"We had some very good sale results from our members last year, and this year we've got people wanting to use SuperBorder rams for the first time and market their first-cross ewes as sired by SuperBorder rams," Mr Golder said.
"A lot of our members have had good returns for their first-cross ewes.
"We sold nearly 900 first-cross ewe lambs, at eight months, in January and they topped at $428 and averaged $396 a head.
"We're marketing young ewes now for $430."
Registered Border Leicester breeders wishing to join the SuperBorders group can visit www.superborders.com, and there's also the opportunity for non-members to attend the group's annual conference.
This year's event was held at Swan Hill in June, between COVID-19 lockdowns, and gave members the chance to network and discuss what they're doing on farm.
The next conference is in South East South Australia in June next year,
