Derella Downs Merino and Pyramid Poll Merino studs sold

While the sale of the two studs might come as a surprise to many, it wasn't an out of the blue decision for stud principals Scott and Sue Pickering to put the studs on the market and cut back their farming enterprise.

Mr Pickering said they had been thinking about it for a while and it was part of the family's succession plan for their farming enterprise.

"We have two daughters Jamie and Kate and we knew they wouldn't be coming back to the farm, so we knew there would be an end point somewhere in terms of the stud," Mr Pickering said.

"It probably came around a bit quicker than we anticipated but we are happy with the decision we have made.

"We first started talking in June about maybe putting the stud on the market this year.

"Eventually we decided with the good season we would put it out to tender after the ram sale and see what interest was out there.

"We got a fair bit of interest from the tender process, so we decided to go through with the sale.

"While it is sad to see it go, we know the time is right for us and are happy to see it go to someone who is very enthusiastic about the Merino industry."

The sale was negotiated through Nutrien Livestock Breeding representative Mitchell Crosby and consisted of 850 stud ewes aged 1.5 to 3.5 years, 300 Merino and Poll Merino ram lambs and nine stud sires.

Broken down, the ewe part of the sale was made up of 600 Pyramid Poll stud ewes and 250 Derella Downs stud ewes.

Kolindale stud co-principal Luke Ledwith said they were very pleased to have been able to purchase the ewes from the Derella Downs and Pyramid Poll studs as they would fit in well with their current program and allow them to expand their footprint in the Esperance area.

"When the studs were put out for tender we looked at them and thought they would be a good fit for us as we already have a strong clientele in Esperance and have a sale down there," Mr Ledwith said.

"The Derella Downs and Pyramid Poll sheep are dual-purpose types with good bodies and long-stapled, bold crimping lustrous wools and they complement our Kolindale ewe flock.

"We will be running the ewes we purchased at Dudinin but we will run them separately to our Kolindale and Eastville breeding flocks and we will sell the rams alongside our Kolindale bred rams in our Esperance ram sale."

Mr Ledwith said they viewed the purchase of the ewes as a solid investment opportunity as they have a huge amount of faith in the sheep and wool industries and believe they would only get stronger in years to come with the increasing input costs involved in cropping.

"Our aim is to breed a dual-purpose sheep with a heavy cutting, white, crimpy wool suitable for any rainfall area and also a good carcase so our clients can turn off their wether lambs early," he said.

The Pickerings registered the Derella Downs Merino stud first in 1995 based on 50 ewes from the South Australian-based Lone Gum stud.

Then in the late 1990s, concerned about the micron and softness of their wool, they infused Roseville Park genetics via a WA stud and then, on advice from their classer, the Pickerings introduced genetics from the Marnoo district, Victoria, to help produce a plainer bodied sheep with a more bold crimping elite wool and as a result in more recent years Wallaloo Park bloodlines have played a major role within this flock.

In 2005 the Pickerings started an AI program inseminating 600 ewes using Wallaloo Park 005.

This started them on the path to breeding a plainer bodied sheep with greater staple length and softness in the wool along with a well-defined crimp of a finer micron.

The stud's AI program has continued through the years and since 2006 it has been consistently inseminating more than 1000 ewes each year.

The Pickerings registered their Pyramid Poll stud in 2007 due to client demand.

It started with the transfer of ewes from their Derella Downs flock and the purchase of ewes from the Calcaling stud, Mukinbudin, along with genetics from the Glenlea Park and Ridgeway Advance studs based in South Australia.

Since then Glenlea Park bloodlines have continued to feature heavily in the stud's breeding program alongside genetics from East Mundalla, Moorundie, Terrick West and Willandra.

Mr Pickering said they had constantly tried to improve their sheep by sourcing the best genetics to enhance the great qualities of the dual-purpose Merino.

"Our aim was to breed easy-care, plain-bodied, quick maturing sheep with a long-stapled, elite wool suited to all rainfall areas," he said.

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The Pickerings have also been using DNA technology and Australian Sheep Breeding Values for many years to assist in their breeding programs.

They started performance recording prior to the stud's registration in the form of fleece weight recording and micron testing and in 2005 they commenced eye muscle scanning and then in 2008 they started sending their data to Sheep Genetics to generate ASBVs on all their rams.

The Pickerings implemented the use of electronic tags in 2012 and pedigree matchmaking in 2015 which has now been superseded by DNA in 2019.

Mr Pickering said the addition of DNA meant the stud had full linkage and therefore greater genetic gain and by utilising all this data it had enabled them to join their ewes more effectively to produce animals of a consistent value and at a higher quality.

Data recorded each year against each animal has included: birth details (sex, dam, sire, conception type, birth type, weaning rate), weaning and post weaning weights, eye muscle and fat depths, fleece measurements, growth rates, classing details and pregnancy status.

The Pickerings' first offering of rams at auction was in 2004 at the Esperance Breeders' Ram Sale and they sold there before moving to an on-property sale in 2012.

In the stud's peak it got up to selling more than 200 rams in 2017 and 2018.