‘There are buyers looking for Perendale wools’

01-08-2010 | Hugh Stringleman

Perendales are enjoying a resurgence in demand in Northland, although the province no longer has a registered Perendale ram breeder.

Wool Partners International representative Lance Paganini told sheep farmers at the Kauri saleyards, Whangarei, that Perendale rams were what he was most often asked to procure "down-country" for Northland clients.

Five Waikato and King Country Perendale and Cheviot ram breeders brought some sheep to Kauri for an advertised talk and display and Paganini was asked to share his experiences.

He put the new demand down to the wool clip maintained on a high-fertility breed which produced good lambs.

"It costs the same to clip one kilogram or two. If you put on one kilogram in the fleece and one dollar per kilogram on the price, returns multiply quickly," he said.

Paganini called the Perendale wool versatile and fellow Wool Partners representative Malcolm Todd, who covers Waikato, Coromandel and the north King Country, suggested that farmers brand their wool as Perendale on the specification sheet and the bales.

"There are buyers looking for Perendale wools," he said.

One of the biggest buyers of Perendale rams in Northland, Oneriri Station manager Craig Douglas, said the breed had good mothering ability, easy lambing and good mobility.

Many of Oneriri's rams came
from Raupuha Perendales, Russell and Mavis Proffit, on SH3 at Mahoenui where 1000 ewes are SIL-recorded.

Russell Proffit told Northland farmers his was the largest Perendale stud in NZ undertaking facial eczema testing, with all sires tolerance tested since 1999.

The other exhibitors included Rod McAlpine, Waimata Perendales, Te Kauwhata; David and Jean Welch, Omata Perendales, Cambridge; Philip and Audrey Brandon, Awaroa Perendales, Waitomo; and John Spellman's Herangi Perendales and Cheviots, on SH3 south of Te Kuiti.

McAlpine is now the northernmost registered Perendale stud, farmed for 25 years on eczema hot country for natural resistance.

Welch said he hadn't drenched ewes since 1980 and lambs were now drenched only twice. He aimed to reduce the wastage between scanning of 140% and lamb survival to market of 130%.

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