First-cross ewe buyers will have a new way to connect with breeders with the soon-to-be-launched directory from New Armatree Border Leicesters, called NA Linked.
The NA Linked concept is being launched by stud principals Craig and Jenny Bradley, Armatree near Gilgandra, who used their recent forum in Dubbo to introduce the concept and opened the invitation to their ram buyers to get on board.
Mrs Bradley said as more numbers of first-cross ewes were becoming available, buyers were able to be more discerning with what they bid on and how much they paid.
She said this was creating a situation where, if a buyer knew the genetics and the breeders behind the ewes, they could be paying, in some cases, as much as a $100 premium if they knew they could have confidence in the quality of those sheep.
"I just think it's a huge amount of money to outlay if you don't know the genetics and breeders behind those ewes," Mrs Bradley said.
While she didn't expect the new NA Linked concept to create any significant premiums, she hoped it would help connect buyers and sellers, while also providing the buyers with confidence in the genetics they were obtaining in their replacement first-cross ewes.
This also included the Merino genetics, as the template for breeders included the option to input performance information on the Merino genetics, as well as the Border Leicester genetics.
Figures could be uploaded for individual traits, or for the ram battery's average performance.
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To become involved, a first-cross ewe breeder needed to first be a client of New Armatree, even if only a portion of their ram battery was made up of New Armatree rams.
This meant that first-cross ewes sired by other bloodlines could also be included, should they also be using sires from other studs.
Mrs Bradley said the demand for this database of breeders arose from the amount of inquiry from first-cross ewe buyers seeking quality replacements, but due to privacy issues, she wasn't previously able to give out breeders' contact details.
This new concept, however, included a box that clients could tick that indicated whether they were happy for their contact details to be passed on to potential buyers.
"I haven't previously been able to share people's info, but now clients can tick a box to agree to have their info shared with potential first-cross buyers," she said.
Mrs Bradley expects to be able to kick off NA Linked in six to eight weeks, with clients currently learning about the concept and deciding what information to upload.
This included everything from name, address and contact details, to their preferred agent, projected number of ewes to become available in the next 12 months, when they would likely be available, and the genetic and performance information.
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