WHEN highlighting excellence in wool production, the expectation is to be introduced to something completely new. But 'tried and true' can be an equally important story.
That is certainly the case with the Dalla family's Orrie Cowie flock, based at Warooka on the Yorke Peninsula.
Their story is one of productivity built on traditional aims but with a ready acceptance of change. A consistent formula for maximising commercial wool productivity is bringing in more buyers.
Orrie Cowie's history goes back to 1937, when Mr T A Murdoch started the Orrie Cowie flock with Kalabity ewes. Selection was for open faces, sound backs and well-nourished, heavy cutting fleeces.
For current owners Dennis and Heather Dalla and their son John, the key word – nourishment – holds as much importance today as it did when the stud started.
Despite the reliability of Warooka's climate, its average rainfall is only a very winter-dominant 425 millimetres. This raises two potential wool quality issues: fleece rot in wet winters and dust penetration lowering yields in the seven months of dry weather.
Nourishment and the right wax-to-suint ratio is the key protection agent and a point of difference in the Orrie Cowie wool.
The Dalla family has built their flock qualities on the slogan 'the right wools from the right genetics on the right bodies'.
They run 5000 Merino breeding ewes on their six blocks totalling 1950 hectares, giving a peak stocking total of 10,000 head including lambs.
They have a 60-40 split in production focus between commercial and stud flocks.
Their stud component includes Redwood White Suffolk and Poll Dorset flocks producing prime lamb sires. Some are used over their commercial Merino ewes.
They also put more than 2000 crossbred and Merino wether lambs through an on-property feedlot to finish at heavy carcase weights. This mix gives them first-hand experience on what their Merino and prime lamb sheep are genetically capable of in the important meat side of the industry.
Heather Dalla is the granddaughter of Mr T A Murdoch and it was her father, Vic Murdoch, who put the Orrie Cowie stud on the map with the stamping of the Orrie Cowie type of large-framed sheep with superior wool quality and cut.
Throughout the stud's history, the Murdoch and Dalla families have not been afraid to seek out the best genetics.
A Coddington Poll ram it bought for $28,000 at the Bendigo Australian Sheep Breeders Association's sheep and wool show last year fits Orrie Cowie's objectives of soft, white, long-stapled, well-defined, nourished wool on a big and extremely well-structured body.
The stud has always been open to new ideas and options. It started objective measurements in 1972, being one of the first flocks to use this extra information.
It holds SA's second oldest auction sale – its 49th auction is scheduled for August.
Orrie Cowie believes schemes such as Merino Select are good overall, but without a long history of involvement, or a lot of linkages, breeding values can often be undervalued.
"It is a useful tool, but not the prayer book," John said.
Heather said the stud aimed to be breeding sheep that were best not only for all measurable production traits but also for sound structure, maternal instincts, temperament and wool qualities such as nourishment.
The progress of the Orrie Cowie flock in the past 20 years has been remarkable. Average microns are down from 23 to 20-21; comfort factors are up on all sheep, including those with the broadest microns, while significantly increasing fleece weight, body weight, fertility and maintaining the stud's renowned constitution.
* Full report in Stock Journal, July 17, 2014 issue.
