FAR VALLEY DOHNES

The elite all-rounder

SEP

13

2017

Far Valley On-Property Sale Day 2017

Far Valley invites you to our 16th Annual On Property Sale

  • Wednesday, September 13, 2017
  • Inspection from 10am
  • Rams penned from 10am
  • 130 Rams Selected

1,000 Specially selected mixed age purebred Commercial Dohne ewes.
500 Specially selected Dohne ewe lambs, June/July drop.


SEP

14

2016

Far Valley On-Property Ram Sale on Wednesday

Far Valley invites you to the Annual On Property Sale

  • Wednesday, 14th Sept, 2016
  • Sale Commences at 1pm
  • Offering 120 Rams

120 Rams for Private Selection. Commercial Ewes and Stud Ewes available by appointment.

This years Ram purchase from Hamilton Run (Greg Andrews and Nicole Luckcraft) a Far Valley daughter stud, has one of the best Dohne wools I have ever seen, so hopefully his genetics will blend with ours and we can reproduce his wool. The ram himself is very correct, pure and structurally sound. I hope to have him on display at our Ram Sale on the 14th of September this year. It goes back to the old saying, "what goes around, comes around". As usual we will also have our young reserves and a few older sires.


OCT

1

2014

Ram Sales 2013 - ASBV and Raw Data (Excel)

View the Far Valley Ram Catalogue SBV and Raw Data (XLSX)


SEP

3

2013

Far Valley 12th On-Property Ram Sale

Learn more about the ram sale in 2013


OCT

4

2012

Far Valley 11th On-Property Ram Sale

The Far Valley Team will be conducting the 11th On-Property Ram Sale, with 140 rams offered on auction. Our 2011 ram sale was very well attended and many went home with their requirements quite happy. The first 60 or so rams sold very well, as clients jostled to obtain the higher rated rams with the EBV's that they were in particular, looking for. Over all, Far Valley averaged $1,500 per ram sold, so with the increase in wool and lamb prices, most buyers were happy with the result. This year's On-Property Ram Sale will start at 1:00pm.

About Far Valley Dohne Stud

Far Valley was established by owner David Kain during the early 1980's. Far Valley is situated in Arthur River, a mixed farming area approximately 200 kilometres south of Perth. During the 1980's and most of the 1990's, Far Valley was a traditional Merino breeder and was registered as a Merino Stud in 1987. In 1999, David established the WA Far Valley Dohne Stud.



What is a Dohne?

The Dohne is a dual-purpose breed developed by the South African Department of Agriculture using Peppin-type ewes and German Mutton Merino sires. The progeny were interbred and selected for high fertility, rapid lamb growth and fine wool under commercial pastoral conditions. In general appearance the Dohne is a naturally polled and plain-bodied sheep that produces fine-medium wool. The Dohne is a highly productive dual-purpose sheep, bred to combine prime slaughter lamb production and fine, white wool in a self-replacing, fertile, hardy and easy care commercial flock.

Far Valley Dohnes

At Far Valley, our Dohnes must be All-Rounders. They must excel at:

Constitution and Structure

Good long top line and spring of rib with depth of body and a hoof in every corner.

Fertility

High Lambing Percentages (Stud aiming for 140 - 150 % lambing).

Growth Rates

More lambs to achieve 500+grms/day (the faster we grow them, the sooner we sell them).

Wool

To produce a soft white crimpy wool of fine medium micron of about 18 to 19 micron that has the ability to handle high rainfall.

Meat

To produce good long lean meaty carcasses, with improving eye muscle depth and with a butt that you will remember.

With the advantage of high-level performance recording, the Dohne system has taken a lot of the guess work out of breeding quality sheep. At Far Valley we pay particular attention to the EMD (Eye Muscle Depth) and WWT (100 day bwt), PWT(200 day bwt), YWT(Yearling bwt) growth rates as well as other traits when selecting breeding stock. As a result we have achieved a high of 645gms/day for the first 100 days with the average being in excess of 370gms/day.

Because at least half the genetic base for the stud comes from our stud ewes, we are ever mindful that the ewes must be top performers in all areas. Through our embryo transfer program only specially selected stud ewes are flushed to ensure we make the best possible genetic progress. This is done by improving the average of the group each generation for selected traits. One of these traits is wool and last year Far Valley stud ewes' averaged 18.8micron and the stud ewe hoggets averaged 17.6micron. The entire drop of ram lambs from these ewes averaged 18.37mic with 99.75CF. Another important factor at Far Valley is the relationship between clean fleece weight and body weight called WPP % (Wool Production Potential) By maintaining through selection, an optimum WPP% of 6 (+ or - 1% for Dohnes) the improvement in the fitness traits and reproduction are enhanced.