We got our hay baled in dry conditions with an excellent quality test. It had less than 1 mm of rain on it from cutting to carting. Grain harvest began following a dry Spring that severely limited yield, but quality was high.
We sorted the stud ewes into mating groups.
The publication of Merino Superior Sires no 29 revealed how productive our Glen Holme trialled sires are. Here is a summary:
- Two Glen Holme sires in the top 50 Dual Purpose + MerinoSelect Index from 403 sires eligible. This DP+ index has reflected most closely the South Australian sheep industry with a Merino based ewe flock.
- Two Glen Holme sires appear in the All-time Top 50 DP+ Index list from 625 tested.
- Research Indexes implemented during 2023 will become the new standard indexes in 2024. These are Maternal Lamb (ML), Sustainable Merino (SM), Sustainable Merino High Rainfall (SNHR) and Wool Production (WP).
- Four Glen Holme rams are in the Top 50 ML index, coming in at ranks of 4, 8, 27 and 29. We have only entered 7 rams in AMSEA Sire evaluations and 4 of those 7 have made the top 30 out of 432 sires trialled.
- Two Glen Holme rams are in the Top 50 SM Index, ranking 7 and 28 out of 432.
- Two Glen Holme rams are in the Top 50 SMHR Index, ranking 8 and 16 out of 432.
- First and foremost, we aim for structurally correct and productive sheep, to have these results come to light is testament to the proven genetics of our flock.