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About Us
Our Story
Greendale Merinos is an intergenerational family owned and commercially operated Merino sheep breeding enterprise. Our overall aim is to produce sheep that are the most profitably efficient and productive based on the most heritable and profitable traits of fleece weight and fibre diameter.
We are able to achieve these objectives through genetic comparison and selection to maximise profits and provide the consumer with a proven superior quality animal.
Our production principles are dictated on ‘ If you don’t measure it, you can’t better it’.
Greendale Merinos has based performance recording and benchmarking for over 30 years, and the past 5 years ASBV's has driven the growth and profitably of our business and that of our clients businesses.
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Greendale Merinos consists of five properties based around Cooma in the Monaro region of South-Eastern NSW.
Our properties range in elevation from 990m to 1300m with an average rainfall ranging between 500-700ml annually across all properties. The geology of our properties vary between predominate granite soils to heavy dark basalt. Grazing consist of a mix between native and improved pastures.
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We currently mate 8500 ewes annually and use these ewes as a base to select a nucleus breeding flock. All ewes are measured and tested for all wool traits, fleece weights and body weights.
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Only the best 10% of maiden ewes join the selected nucleus flock each year with ewes chosen based off ASBV’s measurements and visually assessed structural integrity.
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Our business is completely commercially focused aiming to produce the most efficient, productive, and profitable Merino under realistic commercial, paddock conditions. The Greendale flock ewes are producing a flock average of 7.5kg fleece weight at a 17.5 microns.
"If you don't measure it, you can't better it"
- Alan McGufficke
Breeding Objectives
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Greendale Merinos focus is based on producing the most economically sustainable and profitable merino sheep under realistic commercial conditions.
Our breeding focus and aim is to produce highly efficient, moderately sized animals that are capable of producing high quantities of quality fine wool whilst maintaining longevity in their individual production.
This anomaly is a genetic correlation that that only few merino seedstock producers in Australia have consistently achieved, Greendale being at the pinnacle of this unique breeding achievement.
Breeding Objectives:
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Breeding Highly efficient animals with are of moderate body size. This has and continues to be proven that moderate sized sheep are the most efficient and viable in terms of $/ha and $/DSE
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Producing high quantities of quality fine wool. A breeding anomaly that has proven to be the most profitable.
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Maintaining longevity in an animals individual production. Quality wool into age means more economic retrieval and creation over the animal’s entire life and this will be inherited by their progeny.
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Producing an economically viable commercial sheep, run holistically under entirely commercial conditions.
How we achieve these results:
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Measuring the whole cohort for economically viable traits/characteristics.
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Running all sheep in large contemporary groups under commercial conditions with rotational grazing systems.
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Running and measuring all young sheep together to improve the integrity of the data whilst ensuring each animal has an equal opportunity to express their genetic potential
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Maintaining integrity of the data collected
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Incorporating new genomic tools such as DNA parentage and genomic testing to predict the animal’s genetic potential.
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What makes us viable:
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Breeding animals that have proven efficiency and that continually advance in profitable value as shown through industry comparisons.
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Being a genuine family owned and most importantly intergenerational operated business.
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Using analytical data to measure and determine the animal’s genetic merit.
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Using data and information to assist classing decisions as well as visually assessing each individual animal to ensure efficient production and quality breeding continues.
Please see the ‘Flock Profile tab’ on how we incorporate our breeding objectives into our flock profiles.