TWIN ewes and a standout fleece won Ryeland breeders Michael and Julie Osborne, Ryeview, Millicent, a swag of broadribbons this year.
The champion of the pair was RY013, a 55.5-kilogram June 2017-drop ewe that scanned 6.5 millimetres of fat, and had an eye muscle depth of 30mm.
Mr Osborne said judge Teresa Duffield, Broughton Lodge, Port Pirie, had selected the champion ewe ahead of its sister – which weighed just 1kg less, with 4.5mm of fat and a 31mm EMD – because of its easy fleshing and length.
Regulars at Adelaide with their Ryelands for almost four decades, Mr Osborne said the breed was the oldest traceable, going back about 800 years, and needed to be maintained.
“They have got all the old attributes – one of the breeds in the poultry industry got to a point where they needed to go back to the two parentage breeds and they were just not there – that is why we need to keep the Ryelands so the gene pool is still there, even if it is small,” he said.
And the Osbornes were still having good commercial success with the Ryelands as commercial prime lamb sires, using them over Merino ewes and selling lambs last year for up to $228, or $8/kg.
Mr Osborne said entering the fleece competition and showing they could get the wool right was another selling point for their stud, as while stronger wools were not seeing the price highs of Merino fleeces, the wool type was still important for meat production.
“Good wool on a lamb is still important, as a good fleece of downs wool will hold up in any weather,” he said.
Ryeview’s winning fleece was from a mature ewe, weighed 3.5kg, had a fibre diameter of 27.2 micron and a 66 per cent yield, and was rewarded 81 out of 100, receiving full marks for soundness and clean fleece weight.
This score won the fleece the champion British and Australasian breeds fleece, champion British breed ewe’s fleece, and champion shortwool fleece ribbons.
