Breeders of sheep must work together

Press, 16 July 1982, Page 18

Breeders of sheep must work together

All breeders of sheep should be pulling together to produce top quality wools that are suitable to the market needs and not, as is so often the case, being critical of each other’s breed of sheep, according to the vicepresident of the Perendale Society, Mr Derek Anderson, of Hundalee, North Canterbury.

Mr Anderson told a recent society conference at Lincoln College that criticism was infectious and it .was often caught by Ministry of Agriculture advisers, private farm advisers and stock firms.

He said that breeders had to continually watch the work , of and keep in close contact with researchers and scientists. These people had come up with the results, such as the Perendale, with

its loose wool bulk and. good colour. < ' "I don’t mean that alt socalled Perendale wool has these attributes, and in fact the variation is wide, and this is where we must ; get our house in order and educate our breeders to produce these bulking wools and not to lose sight of wool weights and style within our clip,-’ he said. j u; "We have a sheep that can produce a certain tyjie of wool for certain yarns, namely in the knitting; hosiery and carpet yarn- area, and a sheep that can produce a truely fat-free carcase to any weight that is needed. “With 11.2 million Perendales in the national 'Hock, second to the we have much to offer if- we insist on -a high standard, as all breeds must, to Jteeji pace with a complex, ever-chang-ing market,” he said.