Agriculture
3 January, 2026
New studs will be part of Merino field day
TWO new studs will be part of the 2026 Loddon Valley Merino Field Days at Serpentine
Avonmore Poll Merinos and Everton Park Poll Merino Stud will be part of the day for the first time, joining nine other studs at Serpentine Recreation Reserve on February 27.
Kamarooka Park will also be part of the stud large presence at Serpentine while Willera Merinos, Kedleston Park and Terrick West will have on-property displays.
Avonmore, near Elmore, runs 1400 stud ewes. Principal Roger Marsh says: “We breed large-frame, plain-bodied Merinos with soft handling well-nourished wool and strong bone, designed to prosper under all conditions and modern management systems.
“Our direction remains focused: increase fertility, improve efficiency, and enhance profit per hectare through genetics that work for today’s mixed-farm producers.”
Membership of the Loddon Valley Merino Stud Breeders for Everton Park now takes the association’s membership into the state’s north-east.
Everton Park has been producing seedstock Poll Merinos since 2020 and registered as a stud this year.
Co-principals Adam Bennett and Emma Lenihan said the flock had been built on bloodlines from Moorundie Poll, Bennmann Poll and Kerrylin Poll Merino.
We’re focused on breeding balanced, productive rams that perform in the paddock and the shearing shed,” they said.
The field day will again feature a fleece competition for studs and their farmer clients and competitions for the best pens of rams and ewes.
New Loddon Valley association president is Bruce Dean, of Forest Springs Merinos at Joel Joel. Terrick West’s Robyn McGauchie continuing as secretary.
“We have experienced a dramatic turnaround in the season after a very tough start to the year and then a good spring finish to the season,” Mr Dean said.
“Lamb and mutton are at record levels and with the wool market on the rise, the outlook for Merino sheep is very bright.”