Russell Proffit has been elected as the new President of the Perendale Sheep Society of New Zealand, following in the footsteps of his father, who held the same prestigious position three decades ago, almost to the day. With 45 years of involvement with the society, Russell’s election marks a significant milestone in his career as a sheep farmer and stud owner at Raupuha Stud and his unwavering commitment to promoting the Perendale breed and advancing the sheep industry in New Zealand.
“A lot of farmland is going into trees that have traditionally been sheep country. So it’s about showing people how to use genetics etc to enhance their farming income so trees don’t look as attractive,” says Russell highlighting his vision for the industry’s future. “Perendales are good hardy sheep and generally have a lot less work than some other breeds as they are more mobile and have better drench tolerance. They are good easy doing animals, and some of the Perendale breeders are leading the way in FE and worm tolerance.”
Russell’s Raupuha Stud is one of those industry leaders. The stud’s main focus is on FE tolerance, and all stock is fully DNA recorded. The stud is part of FE Gold group, which promotes breeders of elite FE-tolerant rams and raises awareness amongst ram buyers of the value of buying from FE Gold breeders.
“We invest a lot into our rams for the benefit of our commercial clients.”
The 2023 annual sale at Raupuha Stud was held on November 14. Russell and his team geared up to offer around 500 rams, including 200 through the on-farm auction. “We [have offered] the highest tested Romdales and Perendales in New Zealand for FE tolerance as we’ve been testing for 23 years, and the flock has been tested at 0.6 milligrams of sporidesmin per kilogram of bodyweight,” says Russell.
Faecal egg count reduction tests were undertaken, challenging lambs and building data on individual animals. Every ram the stud has sold includes these figures. “We invest a lot into our rams for the benefit of our commercial clients. Our sale is a good opportunity for people to come along, have a look and get their hands on the best genetics.”
Russell and his wife Mavis farm 5,579 sheep including 2,000 stud ewes. They also farm 1,000 beef cattle. They produce rams and bulls for commercial sheep and beef farmers around the country and fattening stock bred on their property. The farm comprises 1,100 hectares total (1,050 hectares effective).
After the Proffits returned from attending the 2023 Beef Improvement Federation Symposium in Calgary, they went to Montana as part of a beef and lamb delegate looking at various farms. The trip saw them spend 10 days driving over 4,000 kilometres including visiting an 18,600-hectare ranch and a research farm. With over 1,000 hectares of buildings and lanes on one farm, these were bigger than the Proffitt’s entire farm.
One major takeaway from the trip for Russell was the need for investment to keep up with what is happening internationally in the realm of feed efficiency, methane reduction and sustainability: “In the USA, they are doing lots of trial work, collecting data and measuring. The universities are working closely with meat companies so there is a lot of collaboration. In New Zealand, we need to be collaborating with the USA to get cross-referenced data.”
© Waterford Press Ltd 2024 – Independent Print Media New Zealand
