A THIRD generation sheep breeder has forged a new path into Dorper stud breeding after wanting to make genetic leaps in the family's commercial flock.
Mount Wedge Dorper and White Dorper stud co-principal Ross Bascomb set a goal to produce bigger lambs in 2006-2007 and dabbling in stud sheep began.
Mr Bascomb began the stud with 20 registered ewes, from where it just "snowballed".
"We were having a tough time with British breed sheep breeding solid lambs during the drought," he said.
"So I had experimented with Dorper stud sheep as a bit of a hobby to see what type of lambs they could produce but I took it more seriously when we needed to make changes on the farm."
Mr Bascomb noticed Dorpers were able to deliver prime lambs straight out of the paddock.
"That was the main driver behind the stud - to help improve the commercial side of the business," he said.
He has had a passion for producing sheep since a youngster.
"Throughout high school I really got into sheep and the passion grew," he said.
"I was not interested in cattle, I just fell in love with Dorpers."
He completed a carpenter trade and after six years off the farm, Mr Bascomb returned to the family farm in 2015.
"Once I moved home, I had to take it on seriously, the hobby side went out of the window," he said.
The stud has grown to about 300 stud ewes and in the past five years, considerable investment into infrastructure to support a stud enterprise has also happened.
"I was glad we came across the breed at the right time for us - shearing was getting even more difficult, we had droughts and it was just getting really tough," he said.
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Mentor from the Dorper society Norm Summerville took the Bascomb family under his wing to learn the ropes of the breed.
But it was when Mr Bascomb attended a classing school with Burrawang Dorpers stud principal Wicus Cronje, that a truly wonderful mentoring relationship began.
"The amount of knowledge I got from that was ridiculous - he is keen to help younger people in the stud game," he said.
"Whatever he knows he passes on - not everyone does that."
In 2021, the stud bought a $27,000 ram from Burrawang and the genetics are helping to improve the stud.
"We have been selling privately but in the near future we hope to hold an on-property sale," Mr Bascomb said.
"We are also looking at getting another person from the stud game on board - just to provide a second set of hands and eyes across the stud."
This profile is part of Stock Journal's Studbreeders Under 30 to Watch series.
Vanessa Binks
I am the Markets Editor and journalist at the Stock Journal. I am based at Nuriootpa in SA's lower north.
I am the Markets Editor and journalist at the Stock Journal. I am based at Nuriootpa in SA's lower north.
