Rare sheep on the market
Wanted: An experienced sheep farmer willing to buy and nurture a flock of one of the country’s rarest sheep breeds.
The flock of 40 ryeland ewes is being put up for sale by owner Robert Port, who has retired from stud breeding.
He is one of seven farmers in New Zealand who run ryeland sheep. His flock is the oldest in the country and he started breeding the sheep in 1969.
Port said he wanted to sell the flock to a farmer who appreciated the unique characteristics of the breed and maintain it.
‘‘Ideally, the buyer of the flock would be someone that was experienced with sheep and would regard them as a lifestyle interest and something that they could promote and carry on.
‘‘I believe there could still be a future for them and I believe there still will be.’’
Ryelands are a dual-purpose sheep providing meat and wool. Their 28-32 micron wool is free of black fibres and was traditionally used for spinning and hosiery.
Port’s father began breeding ryelands after he bought some of them while working as a stock agent in Manawatu in the late 1930s.
He then bought a purebred flock of 80 sheep from a Geraldine farmer who was retiring and that became the basis of the family’s flock.
Two years later they started selling ryeland rams as well as farming hereford bulls at their stud Bushey Downs, east of Otorohanga.
In those days the breed was extremely popular among farmers with many of them being exported to Australia. Demand for them then slowed.
‘‘Other breeds came through and it’s like fashion. They were very popular and southdowns were the rival breed.’’
Like a vintage car that became obsolete by a more modern vehicle, the ryeland was superseded by the merino, he said.
‘‘It wasn’t until later on when merinos were developed in Australia and New Zealand and basically took over from where the ryeland niche market was.’’
Demand for ryeland sheep slowly dwindled as more farmers switched to dairy grazing or shifted to different sheep breeds in response to declining wool prices.
Port said ryelands had an amazing temperament, were less flighty around humans compared with other breeds and would verbally respond when he called to them.
‘‘They are unique. You put them in a paddock with another breed and before you can say boo, the ryelands are down the end by themselves.’’
While Bushey Downs’ main source of income was raising hereford cattle, he kept the ryelands over the years in the hope that the wool industry would turn a corner and the breed would come back into fashion.
‘‘One day wool will pick up again and someone will say that ryelands are unique,’’ he said.
He crossed ryeland rams with romney ewes while maintaining his ryeland ewe flock, but the sheep could also be crossed with other white faced breed such as a coopworth or a perendale.
The ryeland genetics gave the romney-crossed lamb a faster finishing weight. They were also free of foot problems and did not appear to have issues with facial eczema.
‘‘The hybrid vigor in the crossbred made it a very good sheep.’’
Ryelands are one of the oldest English breeds and originated in the United Kingdom from Herefordshire, the same region that was the birthplace of hereford cattle. The breed is also know for its ability to forage and survive on poor quality pastures.
Port said his ryeland flock tended to survive better when there were drought-like conditions. His son Calvin now runs the stud and wants sheep numbers rather than spending his time raising a small flock of rare breed sheep.