HaddonRig August. 13 September. Calendar: August2013. Dear Wool Grower and Industry Member, Haddon Rig. Dubbo National Show and Sale

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1 August2013 Haddon Rig Warren NSW 2824 Australia Tel: (02) Fax: (02) Web: HaddonRig 2013 Calendar: August Dubbo National Show and Sale 5 September South West Slopes Field Day Galong 13 September Haddon Rig Open Day 10 October Haddon Rig On-Property Ram Sale Please Note: Haddon Rig is posting updated news stories about its activities, industry issues and keeping people up to date. You can be part of this on-line story and receive extended versions of this e-newsletter, with video footage and sale/show details and results of the stud and its clients. Just log in at and sign up for our newsletter and visit our Facebook page also. Dear Wool Grower and Industry Member, It has been a busy year, so firstly we must thank everyone who made the effort to come to HR in February for our 2013 Haddon Rig/Egelabra Cricket day we were able to raise $1900 for the Coonabarabran Bushfire Appeal with our Merino Racing Calcutta. Now a fixture on the calendar, we hope to see you there in 2014 for a great day. A highlight of 2013 was visiting China for both cotton and wool business. It was exciting to see growing demand for both lamb and natural fibres in China as a result of rising incomes and increasingly Westernised diets. China provides a platform for market expansion well into the future I was encouraged to see the use of a website called Weibo (the Chinese equivalent of Facebook) which provides an exciting prospect for use as a marketing medium for Australian agricultural goods. We now have all four daughters working and studying within Agriculture and Business it has been great to have their input in various aspects of Haddon Rig particularly their passion for marketing, sharing of team intelligence, and the adoption of sustainable pasture management. With a great young team of current jackeroos we encourage the involvement and education of current and future wool-growers as part of our stud activities. Our Information Day in September will be of value to all professionals, both young and old. The day will see the official launch of the HR-Poll Stud; displays of our auction teams for Dubbo and our On-Property Sale compelling guest speakers tackling industry matters, and a hands-on classing session with Andy McLeod. We are looking forward to seeing the improvement in lambing rates of our newly subdivided 200-acre paddocks each carrying 100 lambing ewes. A good downpour of 100 mls in the last month has greatly helped pasture production and aided the success of this program has seen a renewed effort in our marketing program, with the team attending major shows and sales in QLD, NSW and VIC to showcase our sheep and catch up with valued clients and wool-growers. We were happy to see a swing back towards woolcutters with correct conformation. Be sure to check out our improved website and new Facebook page both great for sharing news. This has been a great year for consolidation at Haddon Rig, we are confident in our product and reassured by your continued support. Our thanks to all who contribute to Haddon Rig s success. We are proud of the successful interaction between livestock and farm. We look forward to the coming months and catching up with many of you. Kind Regards George BS Falkiner 1

2 2013 Haddon Rig Report 2013 has seen the Haddon Rig team making a conscious effort in increasing our lambing percentage. We started the year with one of the hottest driest January's on record, so joining was postponed for 2 weeks to let the extreme heat wave pass. The Sires were put out on the 18th of January into 5504 M/A Stud ewes (1 month off the board) at 1.5% with the mixed age ewes and 2% with the maidens. Because of the dry hot conditions and the lack of quality feed the ewes were drafted into condition score groups and trail fed in big mobs 90% Barley and 10% Lupins. After a 6 week joining the rams were pulled out on the 4th of March. The ewes were no longer fed grain but had access to 4 seasons lick blocks and were rotated into fresh paddocks every week. The next time the ewes were handled was scanning on the 17th of April. I was concerned about how well the ewes joined because of the season and the heat but was very impressed with the results Mixed Age Stud Ewes had 36% singles, 60% twins & 4% dry. In total 5491 ewes including maidens had 43% singles, 52% twins and 5% dry. After scanning the single ewes were left on lick blocks while the twin bearing ewes were fed twice a week 80% cotton seed and 20% barley. This ration held the ewes extremely well with the dry grass in the paddocks. One month prior to lambing the ewes were crutched and split up, 2855 twin bearing ewes into 21 mobs of 130 head per mob and single ewes into mobs of 550. Since the start of June we have had 150mm of rain. The ewes started to lamb on the 16th of June. Although some of the heavily pregnant ewes did do it tough at the start of lambing chasing the green pick, the feed is long enough now and the ewes and lambs are doing very well. We had to wait for it but finally we have a good winter and hopefully all of our hard work will pay off. The sale rams were fed on lick feeders all through summer and autumn and I am very happy with how they are progressing. Their wools and skins are excellent with long bodies and body weights as heavy as we have had at this time of year. The Moorundie Park Blood polls are progressing very well. I am very happy with the young sires we have retained to use in the HR stud and the poll sale rams are the best quality poll rams we have presented for sale to date. I hope those in the North and West of us receive some much needed rain very soon and look forward to seeing everyone in the coming months. Andy Maclean HADDON RIG performs at the Dubbo Show A good result for our first outing to the NSW Dubbo Sheep Show: Reserve Champion March Shorn Merino Ram of the Show HR2-201 a 10 month-old poll ram by Moorundie Park B-100, weighing 85kg. First and Second in the Merino Medium Wool Lamb s Tooth Class. HR placed first in the class. By Special HR Syndicate, this fine 10 month old ram weighed in at 87 kg. HR placed second, weighing in at 82kg. HR Bloodline success at the Walgett Wether Trial 6 of the 16 teams in the trial were of Haddon Rig bloodlines. Congratulations to our clients: Brennan, Sandie and Deirdre O Keeffe, Tootha Merino Stud, Walgett Their team was judged best overall (carcass & fleece). Highest combined fleece value. Ray Pyke, Yarraldool, Come-By-Chance, Walgett Achieving Second place overall. Highest value single fleece 10.78kg fleece valued at $ Andy McLeod Stud Classer All rams coming up for sale this Spring have made excellent progress all born and weaned with no paddock feed, much hand feeding was done. The five 2-tooth rams for Dubbo Ram Sale since blade shearing in March have stormed ahead, body weights equal or above previous years, showing good sirey heads, stretch and depth of body with well nourished, stylish wool. The Auction and Sale rams are now grazing on early oats and will present well. Coming on sale this year will be progeny from ewes and semen purchased from Moorundie Park Poll Stud, S.A. Both rams and ewes show more correctness of frame and body and wool type and, most importantly, increase in wool cut which we felt was very essential. 2

3 HR POLL MERINO STUD The merino breeding team at Haddon Rig has used its collective ability to focus on improving the recently established Poll Stud. With decades of experienced production of the horned merino all expertise and knowledge has been put towards producing the HR Poll stud as a distinctly unique Haddon Rig product breeding big, early maturing pure poll rams with plain frames for easy-care and fly-resistance, growing soft, bright, bulky wool. Utilizing artificial breeding technology, HR has made a determined investment in quality pure poll genetics from reliable sources to selectively produce the type of poll the market place is looking for (MORE $/ha). A merino that is a good converter; a fast growing strong, healthy animal that does well (attaining 45-50kg at 8-9 months of age), producing more lambs with quicker growth rates. The Haddon Rig Poll stud now runs 500 ewes, producing 150 poll rams for sale annually. The stud has been significantly boosted recently with the purchase of 260 pure poll Moorundie Park ewes reliable, big, soft and plain-bodied which was followed by a two year genetic infusion from Poll Boonoke (extraordinary skin and wool type); Moorundie Park and Woolaloo Park (again towards wool production and quality). Andy Maclean has just marked this year s young AI & ET rams weaning weights (of the 2012 rams) were in excess of 40kg at 3 months, ewes scanned 97% in lamb the 2013 lambs are big, robust, long-legged rams with good poll heads, he commented. We will continue to improve the wool quality and quantity without compromising their other highly valuable commercial and practical traits. The HR Poll Stud will be featured at this year s special Field Day on Friday the 13th September at Haddon Rig for inspection, and a top line of rams will be available for auction at the On- Property Sale on Thursday the 10th October Please contact Andy Maclean; Andy McLeod or Stud Advisor Forbes Murdoch about the HR Poll Stud. Andy Maclean Horned AI Sire HR Sire: White River Charinga Pearler 13 Micron: 19.6 SD: 3.1 CV: 15.8 CF: 99.7 BW: 105kg This outstanding young sire is AI bred out of a top special stud ewe and has a long soft white muzzle with a well covered head and impressive horn setting. His length of body development and general sire's outlook are some of the main reasons we retained him as a top young sire. Carrying a pure white lustrous long stapled well defined true medium wool, with the correct amount of nourishment. Haddon Rig Merino Stud Open Day Friday 13th September, 2013 at "Haddon Rig", Warren Genetics + Management: Maximise your Lambing Percentage Itinerary 10am Welcome + Official Launch of Haddon Rig Poll Merino Stud am Robert Bell Livestock Central Lambing and Weaning Nutrition pm Dr Jason Trompf JT Agri-Source, VIC Genetics, Lambing Management, Lifetime Ewe Management + more pm Lunch Supplied + Sale Rams on Display pm Andy McLeod and Andy Maclean Classing Demonstration, the Future for Haddon Rig + Breeding Objectives for Haddon Rig Poll 2 3pm Dr Jason Trompf Hands on ASBVs Andy Maclean: Andy McLeod:

4 Haddon Rig at the 2013 Warren Show We had a great turn out for the 2013 Warren Show with 82 Stud Sheep and 53 Flock Sheep and are extremely happy with how the Haddon Rig young rams performed, and a great day was had by all. Haddon Rig Results: 1st, 2nd and 3rd places for 2 tooth and under Strong Wool. Then Champion medium wool of show HR Poll st, 2nd, 3rd places for 2 tooth and under Medium Wool. Then Champion strong wool of show HR st and 2nd places for 2 tooth and under Strong and Medium Wool grass fed. 1st place for 6 tooth medium wool grass fed. Champion Grass fed ram of show. Reserve Grand Champion Ram of Show and Grand Champion Ram of Show. Supreme Merino Exhibit Warren Show HR Client success in wool section John Simmons Retro, Warren: 1st place in Medium and Strong Wool ewes fleece. Champion highest value commercial fleece $59. Most successful exhibitor. Haddon Rig also won: 1st place in Local Dog Trial 22 entrants. 2nd place in Open Dog Trail 18 entrants. 1st and 3rd places in Dog Jumping 8 entrants. 1st place in the Tug-A-War. 3rd place in Wife Carrying Competition Judge James Raynor and HR Jackaroo Pete Brooker. HR Jackaroo James Clarke and HR Overseer Shannon Mitchell. On-Farm Innovation Fencing Trailer Dividing our big paddocks for the rotational grazing programme required a lot of fencing, so George asked me to go out to the Nielsen s Engonia property to look at a handy trailer they had made. It looked simple and easy, but in fact took two whole days to make. Holding 84 steel posts standing up along one side, five wire spinners lie on top of each other in line with the steel post, all the wires running through the posts to start, and on to the end strainers. Post spacing is marked out then you drive along the line, dropping posts off at the right spots. With the barb in line as a sight wire we drive the post in with an air driver and strain up all the wires. In all we can put up approx 3km/day and still have time to make pancakes for smoko and chops for lunch on the fence line. We ve had a dry hard summer, a lot of extra work feeding and moving stock. Now, since we ve had 8 inches of rain in the last two months we ve got time to concentrate on our ram sales. Hope to see you there. Stud Overseer - Shannon Mitchell. 4

5 haddon rig s 2-Tooth On- Property Sale: Preview of what's on offer at our 2-Tooth On-Property Sale Thursday 10th October, Lot 1 HR SIRE: HR Special Stud Sire MICRON (FD): 19.4 SD: 3.5 CV: 18.0 CF: 99.4 BODY WT: 102 kg Haddon Rig Ram selection program June / July Lambing End July Tag Lambs in single sire groups (record sires only) Early August Lamb Marking Mid October Weaning Haddon Rig Team Mid October Weaning Weight and Visual Classing (30% culled) Mid November Shear Lambs to remove seed and encourage growth Mid April Visual Classing (15% culled), then Shear Lambs and Record Fleece Weight Mid July Micron and Fleece Test yearling body weight, scan for eye muscle and fat depth Lot 1 POLL HR 2-92 SIRE: Poll Boonoke 0001 MICRON (FD): 19.8 SD: 3.1 CV: 15.7 CF: 99.7 BODY WT: 108 kg Mid August Visual Classing using figures, select top 1.5% for HR Sires (10% culled) October Ram Sales Commence Auction and Private Sales Auction and Top Grade Rams available with ASBVs and Merino Select Indexes. At Haddon Rig we believe DNA testing is a very important tool to assist us in our Merino selection, for identifying the double poll gene and attaining full sire and dam pedigrees. Due to the cost of an individual blood test we have not been able to utilise this technology yet. We also believe identifying certain genes (eg; greasy fleece weight, micron, pigment, eye muscle depth, fat depth and more) at an early age through a blood sample will dramatically improve the visual selection of animals with these traits. As the current accuracies are only around 15-20% they are nowhere near adequate and would need to be at least 70% and higher for us to seriously consider them. Haddon Rig is currently providing Merino Select indexes and data on all of our top sale rams. About 10 to 15% of our existing clients are using them to assist them in their ram selection. These clients are a mixture of young and old and most of them have a background in cattle or meat breeds of sheep. 5

6 Richard and Carolyn Manning I m 70 and still love playing with sheep! Richard Manning Ex-HR Jackeroo Richard Manning remembers skull-dragging every ram at Haddon Rig during classing in the early sixties with AB Ramsay on the drafting gate, Classer Malcolm McLeod, and George Hawker alongside keen classing apprentice Dick Jago. He remembers 18 months drought feeding with Ferguson 65 tractors, and working hard as overseer writing up his diary for 27 people! An adventure to the west nearly ended in disaster! I spent a week camping in a guards van delivering 2,500 ewes and 2 rail decks of rams to Western Australia by train I was doing really well until Port Pirie when somehow the train with the sheep left without me, I had to chase it in a taxi, promising the driver that Haddon Rig would be right for the fare! After HR, Richard spent time as a single man living out of his ute, but meeting his wife Carolyn and entering into the scientific world were to change his life and lead to a career away from property management and into Agricultural consultancy. Working with his old jackerooing mate from WA, Bill Johnson, they formed a business in the areas of classing and ID Systems, Bar Code tags, and software data collection. As the business evolved they worked with Mark Brims developing an on-farm OFDA fibretesting machine, and Geoff Upston, as tech-support. Diverse industry applications for this technology has seen the business expand globally, and Richard oversees installation and training in all leading mills through Mongolia, Russia, China, Chile and USA. Something must have happened to me as a kid, I m 70 and still love playing with sheep. Farming Report 2012 saw the dry land farming program on Haddon Rig expand by another 3200ha with the company leasing a block of land between HR and Armatree called Torokina. With a full profile of moisture across all farms we started the winter cropping season optimistic that a good season was ahead of us. All the crops were in by the end of June including Wheat, Canola, Chickpea and Barley. A big dump of rain in the beginning of July saw us looking for a dry spell to let everything get going a bit. Dry spell we wanted and dry spell we got. We got 20 mm more rain for the following 3 months and that took the cream right off the crop. Overall we didn t fare too badly with 2t/ha of Wheat, 1.4t/ ha of Canola, 1t/ha of Chickpea and enough Barley to fill the stud silos. We grew Sunflowers for the first time this year to try and make use of excess moisture in a paddock we couldn t sow to winter crop because of the wet conditions. Sowing into a full profile in late August saw a good plant stand established and the crop powered away with it lucky enough to get a couple of stray storms in November. We then saw a very hot December and January that took its toll on the crop. It stripped about 0.5t/ha which at $530/t on farm made it worthwhile, considering the summer we had. Cotton Shearing We had a full program of cotton this year on all 3 farms. It was a long hot summer that saw us irrigating nonstop through December and January and our trusty team of contract irrigators Emma, Poppy, Hamish and Tom pleased to see the back end of the Tin shed we call the Braemar Quarters. We had a dry pick and solid yields of about 11.7 bales/ha so it was a good finish to the farming year. Justin McMillan 6

7 Haddon Rig 2013 Gallery Sean Martyn is an Agribusiness Consultant and Peak Performance Coach He helps Australia s leading farming families achieve greater performance from their business, landscapes and people. Contact Sean at PrincipleFocus: Suite 3, The Bailey Centre, PO Box 4394 COFFS HARBOUR NSW 2450 Ph: M: E: SMartyn@principlefocus.com.au Selecting HR Poll Sires HR Egelabra Cricket Day Wether Race Start George Falkiner with AWI Staff, Head Office China Ex-HR Sean Magnussen and Egelabra Principal Malcom Kater Shannon Mitchell preparing to bat Amy Lawson from Lawson Communications assists us with our Haddon Rig marketing. She began working with us last year, building our new website and developing a new look in our marketing. She also got us into Facebook and has been producing the short videos you would have seen on our website. Amy has a passion for Merino sheep and so particularly enjoys working with Haddon Rig Merino Stud. Fire Wood for the Station HR Wool Classer Lou Williams If you would like to know anything else about Amy, visit her website at or phone (0427) Tim Lawrance (Scanning Ewes) with John Kean (HR Director) Vogue Australia Wool Fashion Shoot

8 Calendar Dates: Dubbo National Show & Sale: 27th 29th August, 2013 South West Slopes Field Day Galong: Thursday 5th September, 2013 Haddon Rig Open day: Friday 13th September, 2013 HR On-Property Field Day and 2-Tooth Merino & Poll Merino Ram Auction: Thursday 10th October, 2013 Inspections welcome anytime. Grade rams available after the HR Sale. Office: Phone: (02) Kate Whitely (Warren): Web: Principal: George Falkiner Mobile: Private: (02) Sally Falkiner Stud Manager: Andy Maclean Mobile: Private: (02) Stud Overseer: Shannon Mitchell Mobile: Private: (02) Stud Classer and Representative: Andy McLeod Mobile: Phone: (02) Stud Master: Forbes Murdoch Mobile: Phone: (02) contacts Farm Manager: Justin McMillan Mobile: Phone: (02) Scott Thrift Elders Ken Littlejohn (WA) Mobile: Phone: (08) Mobile: Bevan Jolly Elders Mobile: James Koster Phone: (02) John Settree Landmark Mobile: Phone: (02) Mobile: Hugh Richards Cell Grazing Adviser John Newsome Mobile: Elders New England Mobile: Design and Printing: Dubbo Printing Works Pty Ltd Phone: (02) Fax: (02) Photos: Thank you to all contributors including Vogue Australia. Andy McLeod, Forbes Murdoch and Andy Maclean. 8