Dream stud Merinos

This stud was winning awards and attracting top prices, thanks to a quality sire imported from Australia eight years ago.

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A decision in the early 1980s to import a world-famous Merino ram from Australia has paid dividends for Andries du Toit Pienaar’s Diep River stud, near Hanover.

The ram, Barloo 74, combined excellently with Pienaar’s stud sheep, which were producing rich, soft-handling wool.

“The result was a big, well-built, lesspleated animal with medium wool, which was everything the South African Merino industry was dreaming of,” says Pienaar.

The stud has achieved unequalled success at shows this year. The animals dominated the performance-testing show at Goodwood in Cape Town, winning the major award for two rams and two ewes, as well as taking fifth place in the same category and exhibiting 16 other prize winners.

Three weeks later, at the traditional National Merino Championships at Beaufort West, they again won the major award for two rams and three ewes.

“This achievement has never been equalled and ours is the only stud to win the group class (Ciba Geigy award), of two rams and