Name:
Nick and Emily Healy
Property name:
Quinninup Park
Property Location:
Busselton, WA
Annual rainfall:
approx 900mm last 10 years (longterm probably 1100mm)
Currently we are spread over 3 properties plus some lease country totalling 625ha. Cattle and SAMM sheep have gone from the operation and we are running solely Polwarth sheep with close to 3000 breeders. (We are currently going through a succession plan so area and breeding numbers will be close to half in the near future).
Pastures are predominantly sub clover based with annual ryegrass and cereals are used extensively to try and get some early bulk in the paddocks.
Polwarths have been part of the farm here for quite a few decades. Emily’s parents (Allan and Jane Guthrie) first got into them maybe 45+ years ago as they believed they were a great match for this high rainfall region.
Large frame has been a major objective of the Polwarth breeding here from way back at the beginning and low maintenance and easy doing.
We run a nucleus mob of around 110 ewes to breed our own rams and really want to push the quality of the nucleus. It reached the point where there were no opportunities within WA to buy Polwarth genetics. As we wanted to push on and improve our wool quality and also grow a faster maturing lamb we headed east to get better genetics. We started with some rams from Fairview Polwarths in Victoria and continued with rams and ewes from Taljar Polwarths on Kangaroo Island and have been very happy with where we are heading.
The Polwarth is a great fit for this farm in this environment they cope with the wet winters and springs and thrive when the conditions allow. Their dual purpose attributes is probably the number one appealing factor when you can cut plenty of nice wool and have a fast maturing lamb meeting market specifications you can maximise your returns on the time and money you put in.
