RYELAND NEWS. Spring Edition September 2015

Transcription

1 RYELAND NEWS Spring Edition September 2015

2 DIRECTORY Chairperson Helen McKenzie Secretary Greg Burgess, NZSBA Breed Committee Lloyd Falconer Robert Port NZSBA Councillor Vacant Editor Helen McKenzie Website: Closing date for next newsletter is March 10th, 2016 This newsletter will also be available in the Ryeland section of the Sheepbreeders Association website The Ryeland Breed Society accepts no responsibility for the accuracy of any published opinion or information supplied by individuals or reprinted from other sources. Items may be abridged or edited. Cover: UK Champions Photo: Ryeland Flock Book Society Starting from the left Mr Rhys Morgan and the Champion Female, Judge Peter Titley, and Mr Alan Parry with the National Champion Ram. 2

3 CONTENTS 02 Directory 03 Contents; Noticeboard Royal Show entries! 04 Chairperson s Report 05 Mihiwaka Ryeland Flock - Background 07 A Bit of History A Word For The Ryelands 08 Gold Tip Flock Report 09 Obituary Dr Michael Ryder 10 HRM Flock Report 11 Charmwood Flock Report 12 Ryelands In Australia Current Situation 16 UK News - National Ryeland Show 18 Strathgarvie Stud Rosemarkie Report; Photo captions back cover NOTICEBOARD Royal Show, Hastings Entries close 18 th September. There are five Ryeland classes Woolly ram, Shorn ram, shorn ram hogget, shorn ewe with lamb/s at foot, shorn ewe hogget. The Schedule is available on line. Just google Royal Show Hastings 2015 and go from there. Breed classes are on Thursday 22 October and Interbreed classes Friday 23 rd October. There are three C s of life Choices, Chances, Changes. You must make choices to take a chance or you will never change. Unknown 3

4 CHAIRWOMAN S REPORT I hoped we would have a twice yearly newsletter but I find it very hard to source all the material on my own. It doesn t take a moment to jot down a few sentences about how things are going with you and your sheep and hopefully supply a photo as well. It would be nice to feature a stud each issue as well so the newer breeders can become familiar with those who have been around a while. Thanks to those of you who have supplied info for this magazine. I would like to see a couple of unrelated ram hoggets (or semen) come in from Australia, particularly from Andrew Wilkens flock or Denise Humphries, whose sheep also descend from Wilkens s. Andrew s mother had some very typical older style Ryelands when Warwick and I visited several years ago not long before she retired. It is getting harder to find unrelated sheep in NZ with none of the more recent imported bloodlines. These modern sheep may have more scope and frame about them but I feel we are losing the Ryeland character a bit now. If there are any of you who would be interested in investigating this further please get in touch with me. It is not a cheap exercise! I reiterate that we really need more Ryeland breeders very badly, so please encourage anyone you know with 10 or more acres and a wish to own sheep to take up Ryelands. Stress their docility, good mothering instinct, versatile wool for handcraft use and of course, the sweet, great tasting meat; also the need to register them to keep them eligible for sale to other registered breeders and for possible export. There is also a lot of fun to be had showing a few sheep. Ryelands are still eligible for both the shorn and woolly classes at the Royal. We need committed breeders, not fashion followers! I welcome new breeders, Diana & John Mitchell, who are both enthusiastic about the breed. Remember if you re in the Wairarapa we would love to see you. There is generally a spare bed or two available! Our phone is Helen 4

5 MIHIWAKA RYELANDS HOW THEY BEGAN I have been farming Ryelands for 28 years now, starting with 8 ewes and a ram from the Biggar brothers who farmed deep in the Catlins. They were definitely old school and I was fortunate in my choice as they probably had some of the best sheep in New Zealand at that time. I still remember quite clearly the day I drove down with my father to inspect and take delivery of my foundation animals. It was a typical Catlins day, the rain sheeting down and I stood in their covered yards trying to give the appearance of someone who knew what they were about. After the deal was concluded they pointed out to the greenhorn that one of the ewes had a black hock! Away back home through the rain we went with my first Ryelands only to have the axle on the ute break. Fortunately we were close to home and could offload in a convenient paddock and return for them the next day. Most of those ewes were cast for age so it wasn t long before I needed a top up to keep my embryo flock growing. Ian Muldrew from North Otago offered me a ram and 4 ewes which gave me the additional boost required. The ram had won at the Royal Show in Invercargill against the Biggar s sheep and they had been keen to purchase it but there was a great rivalry between these two breeders so Ian preferred to sell him to me to keep him out of their clutches. Ian s woolshed was a sight to behold, being literally papered with the prizes he had won in a lifetime of showing his Ryelands, Southdowns and I think Suffolks. At the time I was still a youngish fellow and I was a little intimidated by these crusty and vastly more experienced breeders. Time has sped by and now I am one of the old fellows and near the top of the flock book but sadly the overall numbers of Ryelands are steadily trending downwards. This is a great pity as they have some unique attributes and great character - I am constantly reminded of this when I bring in my Ryelands after the Perendales, and find that rather than piling up three deep in the race they are stamping their foot at the dog, or when they look over your shoulder as you tag their newborn lamb. I sometimes feel I don t get full value from my Ryelands as the demands of running a full time commercial flock take precedence, but they are an ideal type of sheep for anyone looking to stock a small block. They re hardy and 5

6 less rambunctious than most modern breeds and have a ton of character, often bringing a smile to the face on a busy day. The picture is of some Ryelands from the 90 s, the ram in the centre was a triplet. Cheers, John Chapman Success is stumbling from failure to failure with no loss of enthusiasm. Winston Churchill 6

7 A BIT OF HISTORY NZ National Library Papers Past ; Wairarapa Age, 4 th October 1920 A WORD FOR THE RYELAND In a very appreciative article of the good qualities of the Ryeland sheep in a recent issue of the Live Stock Journal, the experience of two prominent New Zealand breeders is instanced. Mr T A Stephens (Canterbury) stated: - While Ryeland rams are unsurpassed for the production of fat lambs, it must be remembered that if by reason of an unfavourable season it becomes impossible to fatten all the lambs, they are much superior to Downs for holding over, as the cross is generally a first class sheep with a good clip of wool. Mr B B Chambers, of Hawke s Bay, says: I found here that Ryeland cross lambs invariably were freezers off their mothers long before other breeds, as Romneys, Border Leicesters, or the Down breeds, and they stood out on their own compared with other breeds, being always fit from birth. I imported a few ewes and a ram or two to breed from to use for improving the wool of the coarse cross ewes through their progeny, but noticing the lambs were such splendid freezers I used all the rams I bred for getting fat lambs. Mr H C B Withell s Champion Ryeland ram, Canterbury Show, Photo: Meat & Wool magazine 7

8 GOLD TIP FLOCK Hi, I m Janice from the Hell of all Hells (Mount Bruce) in the Wairarapa. I have a 100 hectare ex Dairy Farm just past the Pukaha/Mount Bruce national native bird reserve. I milked a herd of pedigree Jersey and pedigree Ayrshire cows up until four years ago. I then went to dry stock due to work related injuries. I now calve 26 ex pedigree Hereford cows, milk 20 odd dairy cows (the pets) once a day and rear about 100 Hereford cross calves to take through to Local Trade. I also take in a few dairy grazers to eat the extra grass. One of my hobbies is pigs. I have three sows and one boar. I decided to add to my interests a few Ryeland sheep and half a dozen Dorset Down ewes and have run them with a Ryeland ram. The lambs are well framed and seem to be growing very fast. I have had more twins than singles and at the moment have 5 pet lambs in the wash house. I m very interested to see how my new interest in rare breeds develops with a view to having a rare breeds stud to add to my interests. Janice Taplin Some months ago now Janice was involved in a nasty car accident and has been making a good but slow recovery. I spoke with Janice on 20 th August and she was very sick with the flu. She was able to tell me her first Ryeland to lamb had a nice set of twin rams within the last few days, so something to cheer her up. The difference between genius and stupidity is that genius has its limits. 8

9 Obituary Dr Michael L Ryder Reprinted with permission By Peter Titley, published in The Ark, of the UK Rare Breeds Survival Trust. Occasionally, one is privileged to meet an individual who has had a lasting impact in his chosen profession and whose work widely influenced countless others. Dr Michael Ryder was just such a person. One of the founding fathers of RBST, Michael died on 6 February aged 87. I last saw him in 2013 when I spent a day listening to his countless, crystal clear accounts of his pioneering days of RBST all catalogued as part of his continued writings. His dual talents, as a research biologist and sheep historian, combined to produce the enduring and authoritative book, Sheep And Man which remains a key reference for researchers, geneticists, conservationists and practical sheep keepers. In his early career Michael was a university lecturer in Australia before returning to the UK to spend 25 years at the cutting edge of research in Edinburgh firstly at the Animal Breed Research Organisation (ABRO), later to become the Roslin Institute and latterly at the Hill Farming Research Organisation (HFRO) which is now the Macaulay Institute in Aberdeen. He and I shared an absorbing interest in North Ronaldsay sheep the breed which first drew him to apply his acerbic and enquiring mind to benefit livestock conservation more widely. After my last visit to him I wrote that he brings a sparkling enthusiasm to his subject and RBST was proud to have him as a Life Member. [I have a copy of Dr Ryder s book as mentioned above. It is an 864 page tome. The amount of research involved putting it together must have been almost a life s work on its own! Editor] 9

10 HRM REPORT Not much news other than I have taken on the grazing of a small regional park and I have 50 enormous Hawkes Bay Romneys on it with a really good Primera ram. They will be good for this year and most of them for a lamb next year, but you know what - they are so ordinary compared to the Ryelands and probably more work - wormy old bags. I probably imported someone else's drench resistant worms unfortunately. I started with 100 ewes when the kikuyu was going gang busters and shore them myself. Then sold off 50 and made no money at all. Like my Granddad always said, buy high, sell low!! Five of them were downy crossbreds and were the biggest ewes I have ever handled - even bigger than the biggest Ryeland rams - 70 kg easy I reckon, probably 75. Flipping ridiculous. I had some really big Dorper ewes a few years ago - they were mental - and these things would have been 10 kg heavier. One of them stood right up when I caught her in the shearing pen and we were eye to eye. It was a lively dance and she was leading. I sold all the big ones :) Anyway as I start to cull the old girls out I am going to breed up the Ryeland numbers until I have all Ryelands - heading for 60 ewes all told. I don't want to go into my sixties handling monsters and the Ryelands have way more character. That won't be for three or four years as I might as well make a few thousand out of selling all the lambs from this terminal sire for a couple of years. But it will only ever be play money so I might as well play with sheep I like. Regards Pete McLaren [I am looking forward to Pete s flock of 60 Ryeland ewes; can t come soon enough! Editor] 10

11 CHARMWOOD REPORT Just a note to let you know that our five all looking fit and well at the moment. One looks particularly round so hopefully pregnant or perhaps just eating a lot. We have had some very heavy rain recently which caused water to lap our front door step; never happened before in 18 years. No threat to the sheep though. The grass growth is only just starting to slow down, heaps of grass in the next door paddock. I am saving that for closer to lambing. You had previously asked for a profile of John and I so here goes. John works as a Marine Geologist for NIWA and I have worked as a librarian for Kapiti Coast District Libraries for last 10 years and have bred and shown dogs over the last 30 yrs as well as being involved with guide dog breeding in the 1980s. We have only six acres and have had other people s sheep grazing over the last few years but decided to have some of our own. Diana & John Mitchell Two of Diana & John s Ryelands Photo: Diana Mitchell 11

12 THE STATUS OF THE RYELAND SHEEP IN AUSTRALIA By Denise Humphries, Peartree Ryelands, Australia. What sort of sheep do you have? Ryelands. Never heard of them. It is rare to find a shearer, younger generation stock agent, farmer or indeed anyone in Australia who knows about the wonderful old breed, the Ryeland. The best you can hope for is that some young guy says his father or grandfather used to use a Ryeland ram. There are of course a few who use Ryeland rams over their ewes but it is probably true that the majority of rams born to Ryeland stud ewes are castrated and pass through the saleyards and are sold as Dorset x lambs. It is a shame they are not promoted as Ryeland x lambs as they present well. In 2014 there were 584 stud Ryeland ewes in the flock book in Australia, in 2004 the number was 628. In 2004 there were 12 studs but in 2014 there were 17 studs with 3 being in the same ownership. Between , there was a 7% decline in ewe numbers, but a 29% increase in breeders. However the largest stud decreased their ewe numbers by 29%. Only 26% of the ewes in the 2014 flock book were owned by the 8 studs registered in the previous decade. With 51% of the ewes in the 2014 flock book being in the ownership of two breeders any impact on the continuation of those flocks puts the Ryeland in a very vulnerable position. Fortunately these studs are several hundred kilometres apart geographically so that a natural disaster would hopefully not impact both at the same time. During the past decade the oldest stud, registered in 1928, ceased registration. 8 studs are owned in the state of Victoria and 6 in the island state of Tasmania, 2 in South Australia and one in WA. 12

13 The 2014 flock book shows no flocks still existing that were registered between 1979 and What happened to the promotion of the Ryeland during those 25 years? More alarming is that in 1984 there were 62 flocks in the book with 3370 ewes. By 1994 this had decreased to 22 flocks with 1116 ewes. This is a 33 percent decrease, however, the decrease in the next decade was 56%. All things considered, although the Ryeland is in a vulnerable position, the decline of the number of ewes in the past decade has been small. One stud has an overwhelming influence on the Ryeland in Australia with 357 of the 584 ewes joined in 2014 being put to rams from that stud. Australia s quarantine laws make importation of live sheep, except from New Zealand, impossible. It is over 25 years since imported bloodlines were added to the Australian Ryeland gene pool with the introduction of two rams from New Zealand. A snapshot of the Ryeland in Australia would show it to be a larger sheep with a cleaner face and legs than those in UK and New Zealand and it is probable this is reason for the lack of interest in importing further bloodlines. Other British breeds such as Southdowns, Hampshire Downs, Dorset Downs, English Leicester, and Suffolk have imported sheep and semen from New Zealand to give some diversity in their gene pool. How fortunate we are in Ryelands that the breed is hardy and appears to be free of any serious hereditary problems, but the smaller the gene pool is, the greater the risk of something cropping up and the small gene pool would make it more difficult to eradicate. It is possible in Australia to register an appendix flock where Ryelands are crossed with another breed and over generations mated back to Ryelands to produce a sheep that is 15/16 th Ryeland and in the fifth generation is entered into the flock book as a Ryeland. This is a long process and relies on the honesty of the stud owner not to take shortcuts. 13

14 In Australia we do not individually register ewes but simply put in a return every year stating the number of ewes joined, the number of ram and ewe lambs born the previous year and the rams used for the current lambing season. Rams are individually registered but the pedigrees in the flock books are incomplete as the only information required on the registration is the sire, an identification number for the dam and the name of the dam s sire. This makes it impossible to research the females on the pedigree. It is probably seen as a practical solution when some sheep properties have tens of thousands of sheep but with the majority of British breed stud flocks being only in the hundreds at the most it is a shame that the female contribution is not given the same recognition as the male. Given that both sire and dam contribute 50% of the genetic makeup of the lamb but the ewe alone contributes to the nurturing, it seems to me to be important to record the top producing ewes in a breed, especially through her daughters. Ryelands are rarely seen at sheep shows. The southern hemisphere s largest sheep show, the Sheep and Wool Show held at Bendigo in Victoria, usually has only one Ryeland exhibitor, Hallylulya. The Royal Geelong Show also in Victoria has enjoyed entries of 15 Ryelands with two exhibitors Malung and Peartree. Clunes has also had two exhibitors on occasions drawn from Hallylulya, Ronobri and Peartree. The Royal Show in Adelaide, South Australia has also had two exhibitors but with the dispersal of one stud is now down to only one. Recently a Tasmanian Ryeland stud has exhibited at a few of their major shows. Like so many of the old British breeds the Ryeland popularity has declined with commercial lamb producers as they have succumbed to the publicity of the new improved breeds, the wool shedding breeds and the composite breeds. The challenges facing the Ryeland are the same as facing many of the old breeds competition from shedding breeds and composite breeds. The Ryeland can never meet the perceived benefits of the shedding breeds and it is true that the value of the wool in Australia barely covers the cost of shearing and crutching, 14

15 The Ryeland should never try to become a clean-faced, clean-legged large leggy sheep to measure up to the composite or the White Suffolk or Poll Dorset. There are enough of these types of sheep available for commercial producers who want these traits. What the Ryeland can do is find its niche market with gourmet meat supplied paddock to plate direct to consumers or restaurants and there are several new studs doing just that. [A very big thank you to Denise for taking the trouble to write this report for our newsletter. I am sad to see the numbers have dropped down so far in Australia. If we want to import some more rams we better do it before there are none! It is important that if we do get new bloodlines in to NZ that they are as unrelated to each other and to existing stock from previous imports into New Zealand as possible. Editor] A young ram from Andrew Wilken s Malung Stud at the 2014 Royal Geelong Show Photo: Denise Humphries 15

16 NATIONAL RYELAND SHEEP SHOW 2015 FIRST TIME EVER BREED HISTORY MADE The National Show was hosted by Tenbury Agricultural Society in conjunction with their annual show on 1 August. Due to the large entries for the Ryelands the management Committee of the show had to do changes in the layout of the event to accommodate the record entries. The Ryelands were judged by Peter Titley, Past Chairman/President, of the Rare Breeds Survival Trust. A record 125 Ryelands were entered making 178 entries in the 10 classes scheduled with the largest classes being in the Shearling Ewe and Ewe Lamb both with 28 entries. Peter Titley had a mammoth job and commented that the quality of the sheep forward were exceptional and even those that were not in the shortlist were of good standard. The Ryeland Champion was awarded to A & C Parry from Anglesey with their Senior Ram 3 year old Bryn CaffoSant. He was also awarded Reserve Interbreed Champion of Tenbury Show by David Owens renowned Suffolk sheep breeder. David said he was impressed with the commerciality of this native breed and thought this ram could hold his own in any company. The Pembroke flock also had an exceptional day winning Female Champion, Reserve Female Champion. The Reserve Male Champion was awarded to their Bradvale Utah who won Breed Champion at the Royal Welsh this year. The Pembroke flock is managed by 3 rd generation Rhys and Aled Morgan, taking over the mantle from their father Neville Morgan who on the day was judging ryelands at Brecon County Show. History was made by the Coloured Ryelands who have seen a great increase in the membership of the Ryeland Flock Book Society and the number of Coloured Ryelands outnumbered the Ryelands by 11, giving an entry of 202 over the 10 classes scheduled. Richard Wear from the Ruslin flock was the judge for this record entry. The Shearling ewe had 34 entries closely followed by the Ewe lamb with 32 entries, what a magnificent sight it was with plenty of quality animals forward for this stalwart of the breed to judge. 16

17 It was a day for the youngsters winning the championship with the Female Champion and overall Coloured Ryeland Champion being awarded to the Bradbury family with the ewe lamb shown by Bradbury. The Male and Reserve overall Champion being awarded to Harry Watson s Ram lamb Harry watched this with excitement as he was showing his Ryeland ewe lamb at the time of the championships. UK Coloured Ryeland champions Photo: Ryeland Flock Book Society From left Harry Watson s Champion Male ram lamb Judge Richard Wear Bradbury Family s National Coloured Champion Ewe lamb shown by Miss Bradbury. Thanks to Doreen Smillie-Gray for the UK show write up and sending me the photos - Editor 17

18 STRATHGARVIE STUD photo of some Strathgarvie stud Ryeland ewes at Stewart McKenzie s, Kai Iwi, Wanganui. Photo: S McKenzie Strathgarvie Stud (Flock #155) was founded in 1940 by Stewart s father B.U McKenzie. In fact, the stud stayed under the name B.U McKenzie & son, even during Stewart s long tenure as stud principal. The stud s twenty five mixed age foundation ewes were purchased from the Eastwood stud of Joseph Ridd and Sons, Ashurst, Manawatu (Flock 66). They were mated to the sire Eastwood 52 of Another 20 ewes were bought from the same flock the following year with some also purchased from the Ealing flock of H C B Withell. A ram was also acquired from H C B Withell, Ealing #4 of In 1942, the first homebred ram was used, Strathgarvie #1 of In 1974 Stewart brought in ewes from the following Australian studs: 2 from M & D Stevens, 1 from M & T Paternoster, 1 from H &E Wilkins. The flock was withdrawn and reinstated twice in the 1980 s. Stewart also brought in a ram and semen from Stevens in Australia. For a complete history of rams and ewes bought see any recent NZ Flock book up to volume 95, 1999 when Stewart deceased and the flock sold. [Stewart was no relation to the editor] 18

19 ROSEMARKIE STUD REPORT Our Ryeland ewe hogget was first in the ewe hogget scanning at Masterton A & P show in February. Not a huge entry but at least half a dozen other breeds in the class. We hope to take a couple each of ram & ewe hoggets to the Royal Show in Hastings. Not sure about entering the other classes as we will be taking some Shropshire sheep and also plan to take a couple of our Red Poll cattle (all going well with their training!). We have been getting rain but as soon as it stops the ground is dry again. We have a few Ryelands lambed but most are later. Two nice sets of twin ewes. Not many twins in the Shropshires this year. Very dry Summer and Autumn so no feed to flush the ewes. Scanning results were not as good this year in the ram lambs probably due to lack of good feed. At least we could tell who were the best and cull the poorest ones. I am concerned about the late puberty of many Ryeland ewe lambs. A few years ago we had a ram lamb get out with the ewe lambs. Of the thirty-odd Shropshires, 23 had lambs, of the 16 or so Ryelands only 1 got in lamb. We have had a few that don t lamb til 4 tooth although in recent years we have culled those who don t lamb as two tooths. I believe we need to select for rams with good size testicles and longer purses. In cattle the size of the testes in the sire relates to onset of puberty in his daughters. The bigger, the earlier! It would be nice to have some competition at the Royal show if any of you fancy joining us there. Helen McKenzie & Warwick Potts Top: PHOTOS BACK COVER: The first Ryelands for Charmwood Stud, 2 x two tooths and 2 ewe lambs from Rosemarkie Stud Bottom: Ryelands at the Tim & Cynthia Maling s, Wairarapa hoping to register this year. Wether on the left. 19

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