Welpic Dormers: Breeding For Exceptional Genetics

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In September 2016, four Welpic Dormer rams collectively sold for almost R150 000, achieving an average price of R37 250 at the National Dormer Sale in Bloemfontein.

“I have faith in my stud,” says JP Potgieter, owner of the Welpic Dormer stud, which consists of about 150 breeding ewes. “I’ll never sell an animal in which I have any doubt.’’

In fact, JP believes that the most important characteristic of any stud breeder is integrity.

“My intention with getting involved in the stud game was never just to make money,” he explains. “I want to breed sheep that will have an impact in another flock.”

Considering his achievements, JP may already be realising this goal at a national level.

REINVENTING THE WELPIC DORMER STUD

JP’s father, Johan, registered the Welpic Dormer stud in 2006, the same year in which the former fruit farmer relocated from the Boland to Lady Grey in the Eastern Cape. JP, who attended Paarl Boys’ High in the Western Cape, says that while he grew up in a fruit-producing area, he developed a passion for livestock farming. In 2012, he completed a diploma in agriculture at the Grootfontein Agricultural Development Institute.

In 2013, he returned to the farm in Lady Grey to take over his father’s large livestock operation, which consisted of stud and commercial Dormers (currently totalling over 1 000 ewes), a commercial Merino and Dohne Merino flock of 1 400 ewes, and Braford stud and commercial herds of nearly 300 cows.