SOFT ROLLING SKINS

"Skin is the Wool Factory"

Wanting to make more money then need to produce more wool. Climate restricts carrying capacity in many wool producing areas so it is understandable that when it was discovered that some sheep have more fiber follicles per square centimeter then the ability to produce a heavier clip per sheep was achievable. This is my understanding of "Soft Rolling Skins". The sheep with high density of wool have soft rolling skins.

So proceeded a huge research into which animals have SRS and good quality wool.
They are present in Merinos also Finn.

Many Finn attributes are being considered for the modern sheep:

DOCILE: Finns are easy to farm, can be pets and respond to tender care, are shedded during winter in their native Finland.
FERTILITY: This gene is remarkable in increasing the fertility of any cross breed sheep and will carry on to further crossing for greater fertility as the selected breed up to 7/8th and pure.
MILKING: Given adequate feed the Finn is a good milker with large udder and can easily handle twins or triplets and feed to weaning.
THIN SKIN: This is generally present but selected animals have the softness of skin as well. First identified by open backs in the wool.
LONG STAPLE: Retaining its strength, crimp and luster whilst length is grown Finn wool is highly compatible with Merino for the SRS program. Finn can even enhance the quality of the Australian clip.
LOW FAT: The unique characteristics of Pure Finn to retain the fat within the body is desirable for a breed which will fat score consistently no more than 3.
PLAIN BODY: Prevention of fly strike through plain-bodied sheep is a plus while the shearing of plain-bodied sheep is quicker and more efficient. The retention of the higher density fiber follicle to increase wool clip on a plain-bodied sheep is a breed factor.
SHORT TAIL: The short tail and clean breach of the FINN for the future when museling and docking may become a thing of the past. Excellent attributes now for lowering fly strikes.
NATURAL POLL: No horns on Pure Finn leads to natural poll breed up animals.

An extensive search across Australia & New Zealand for the right sheep is on going with the optimum time for classing being 2 hours off shears. Needless to say there is extensive culling to achieve the desirable carcass conformation combined with SRS traits.
SRS is also present in other fiber-producing animals and breed programs using the principles of SRS are being conducted for angora, rabbit and alpaca.
Peter is also a member of a group valuing adding to their product producing a range of clothing under the "Woolabar" label. Yes he was wearing a pure wool shirt in a glorious burgundy that came straight out of the small travel bag with little creasing.
Agribusiness enterprises hope to increase their income by 7 % to 20% using SRS. For further information see their web site: www.srswool.com

NOTE: Our son John spent a week with Robin Hilson at "One Stop Ram Shop" Hawkes Bay, NZ in September where there was an additional guest for the weekend of an Australian client seeking SRS genes.

2004 SHEEP & WOOL SHOW

Once again the AFBA hosted a site for the three days of the Australian Sheep & Wool Show in Bendigo. This is a great promotion for the breed where livestock breeders meet from far and wide to gather the latest information available in the industry.

On display were Australian Finnsheep from "Fairfield Finns" and "Loddon Rise", Blenpol Pastoral Co brought Finn cross ewes with twin lambs at foot and then the Canadian Finns from "Gippfinn". The display and sales of pure Finn wool fleeces, tops, yarn and garments attracts a steady group of craft people looking for supplies for the coming year. This year Finn x Merino tops and yarn was added to the range helping to promote the unique qualities of the Finn Fleece.

This attractive display encourages both craft person and prime lamb producer to investigate the potential of Finn Breed for their enterprise.

Attributes of Pure Finn Wool:

Length
Low Pilling
Low Prickle
Luster
Softness

An excellent product for spinning, weaving & felting.
The wool is adored by handspinners, but very hard to find because there are so few breeding Finns.

Maureen Shepherd in her "Wool Room". Plenty of Pure Finn Wool ready for the Sheep & Wool Show. Maureen has her wool processed at Geelong. To retain the softness of Finn a new process is being used that keeps the fibers aligned requiring less twist in the final product.

MEMBERSHIP

At present there are 10 members of the association, which is way down on the numbers, who started out with Finnsheep in the 1990's. This is in line with New Zealand where there are only 2 members. There are registered studs in Victoria, New South Wales & Western Australia.

Membership is open to all who are breeding Finnsheep as well as those who have an interest in the Finn. The Australian Stud Sheep Breeders Association Ltd. now conducts registration of the Pure Finn and all registered Studs are listed in the Australian Flock Register.

Contact the Association for full benefit to your enterprise.

Finn x Texel rams = More Lambs, More Meat, More Profit.

CHINESE DELEGATION VISIT

The Association was proud to host the delegation from China at the property of Gerry & Maureen Shepherd at Bullengarook. They had many questions on the finances of farming in Australia. Also what pasture species were present.
Hay! Where is it formed and when do you feed it?
Sheep!What license do you need? How many are you allowed to keep? What price?
Property! What size is your farm? What does it cost? How many people work with you?

Water? Where does it come from? Cost of building a dam?
Climate? What is the rainfall? Do you shed your sheep? When do you shear?
What types of sheep are those? (Alpaca)
The list goes on as we compared agriculture in two different cultures with the aid of an interpreter.

Gift exchange; We were presented with traditional Chinese embroidered hats, coloured for the women, grey for the men.

Fact: They nearly all smoked. So Maureen served tea outside on the patio.

The eight-man delegation visited Australia to investigate the infrastructure of towns and cities. Interest was in town planning for water, waste treatment, roads, development and general governance.

They visited two sheep breeds - one in Qld. and then flew from Brisbane especially to visit AFBA. The afternoon was to be spent at Sovereign Hill tourist venture at Ballarat. They were scheduled to fly to New Zealand that afternoon.

Having a go! The gentleman really knew what he was doing.

Inspecting the sheep in our best suits and shoes - just as well the weather was kind!

BLENKIRON INSPECTION

Neil, Shirley & Peter welcomed us to their property near Caldwell, NSW for the inspection of their breed up ewes.
Just two culls and now with the purchase of stud ewes from the Dowdy dispersal "Penish" is registered again.

Neil (Treasurer) pointing out the Finn advantage to Bruce McClymont (Inspector) & Gerry Shepherd (President).

Rice harvest was a few weeks away. We were fascinated by the system that irrigates the plains