Our Philosophy
At the SheepMaster Parent Stud, we run our sheep as our clients do. Every stud ewe must be in lamb by 8 months of age and then every 8 months for the rest of her life. Ewes are joined with a 5 week mating with early lambing ewes being identified.
Lambs are weaned at 8-12 weeks of age and are then run commercially. At weaning, all lambs are transitioned through a feedlot for 2 weeks allowing a backgrounding process using low stress stock handling principles, promoting correct rumen development for lifetime productivity and education to hot wires. This weaning transition process plays a key role in building on the breed’s already calm temperament, thereby minimising many of the containment and temperament issues seen in other so called shedding breeds.
Ewes are classed for the first time at 13 months of age, and then annually with key selection criteria being; fertility and mothering (lambed and lost are regarded the same as not being in lamb), front legs, back legs, size, conformation and skin quality. Added to the visual classing, all sheep are genomically tested and a stringent objective classing appraisal is applied to all ewes and rams. In this way, we believe we are presenting rams for sale that give the greatest possible return to our clients commercial sheep operation while making the highest rate of genetic improvement.
Our only focus is on client performance, whether it be a self-replacing maternal flock or through the use of terminal sires, our results speak for themselves with clients weaning the equivalent of a ewes body weight in 12 months. Rams are classed and are ready for sale from 8 months of age. All rams are guaranteed for the first mating.
History
Neil Garnett spent the past 30 years in his quest to breed a highly fertile, easy care, functional animal for which red meat, not fibre, is the focus, culminating in the launch of the SheepMaster breed in 2017. The aim has and always will be to maintain the positive virtues of the foundation genetics and to breed a versatile meat sheep with a skin more akin to a cow, bred for tough Australian conditions. Powerful Damara genetics have underpinned SheepMaster over the journey. This ancient breed survived the centuries of selection pressure for fertility, conformation, temperament, strong mothering, survivability, intelligence, early shedding, feet and walkability. It’s the unique, soft, silky skin which gives SheepMaster it’s outstanding eating quality.
Following a record breaking ram sale in 2022, the decision was made to sell the SheepMaster Parent Stud and in late 2023, it was purchased by Charlie Sullivan and his business partner Mark Berry. The entire flock has since been successfully relocated from Elleker in WA, to the eastern states where we believe is the greatest opportunity for growth.
“This was a golden opportunity to purchase the entire genetic legacy of such an innovative and productive sheep breed. From the moment I learned about the remarkable work accomplished by Neil and the SheepMaster team, I recognised the tremendous potential for growth, both domestically and internationally.
I, and the entire Australian Sheep industry, owe a great deal to Neil’s visionary leadership’. Shedding sheep are emerging as key players in the sheep industry, providing producers with options to manage rising costs, address animal welfare concerns, and mitigate variable climatic conditions.”
