- General Overview
The year 2021 was marked by the Covid-19 restrictions affecting all major activities of the breed society. The National sale however took place after the Foot-and-mouth non-event of the previous year. The sale which took place under Covid-19 restricted conditions, resulted in 30 top rams being sold for the average price of R35,600. Mr. Wynand du Toit, Suidplaas Dohnes, Bredasdorp, sold the top priced ram for R120,000. Congratulations to Mr. du Toit for this ram which was also the highest priced Dohne Merino ram for 2021.
Production sales remain the main indicator of the success of breeding Dohne Merino rams. During the 2021 sales season 52 rams more at a price of R2694 per ram higher than for the previous year, were sold. It is clear that commercial farmers are buying better quality rams at considerably higher prices. Dohne Merino breeders must take note to contemplate this trend which contrasts with the genetic principle to use approximately one ram for every 40 ewes in large flocks to spread genetic change. This genetic change in the form of numbers of rams needed, is bought from Dohne Merino studs using advanced scientific animal breeding techniques. The trademark of the breed -hardiness, adaptability and consequently versatility stays a crucial factor in expanding the market share of the Dohne Merino.
Note that the council report on breed activities during 2021 is released only at the end of 2022 to be able to reflect on complete information on 2020 born animals (now two years old). The report provides valuable information on aspects such as reproduction, production values, and selection intensity, which proved to be valuable for making on-farm decisions by stud breeders and flock farmers alike.
- Membership and flock size
The core membership of the breed (92 in Table 1) remain stable. The slight decrease in the number of breeders since 2019, may be ascribed to external factors affecting woolled sheep farming in general. The members lost also represented small and not so active studs. This reasoning is validated by the stable number of ewes on register of the breed society (Table 1).
Table 1: Membership and population size / Lidmaatskap en populasie grootte
<
2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | |
Registered Members/
Geregistreerde Lede |
89 | 89 | 89 | 97 | 98 | 90 | 90 | 102 | 96 | 92 |
Honorary Members/ Ere Lede | 8 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 3 |
No of recorded ewes/
Getal geregistreerde ooie |
30,630 | 30,572 | 33,547 | 32,906 | 42517 | 33704 | 32581 | 34254 | 35355 | 3584 |
The number of honorary members (Table 1) remained intact at three members.
According to Table 2, changes in the number of registered studs may partly be explained by studs with between 50 and 100 ewes leaving the society. At the same time, new studs with less than 100 ewes entered the Dohne Merino stud industry. This part of the industry is particularly vulnerable during the current period of an unstable economy. It is trusted that the new studs in the process of upgrading from commercial ewes, will develop in a sustainable manner to be highly successful. All assistance will be provided by the breed society to these new members.
Table / Tabel 2 Analysis of stud size – Ontleding van stoetgrootte
2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | |
Studs with 300 or more ewes | 40 | 43 | 48 | 46 | 54 | 39 | 39 | 47 | 47 | 48 |
Stoeterye met tussen 200 en 299 ooie | 15 | 14 | 12 | 15 | 12 | 22 | 22 | 17 | 14 | 14 |
Studs with between 100 and 199 ewes | 21 | 15 | 9 | 9 | 10 | 8 | 8 | 13 | 13 | 12 |
Stoeterye met tussen 50 en 99 ooie | 5 | 7 | 7 | 6 | 8 | 9 | 9 | 8 | 13 | 6 |
Studs with less than 50 ewes | 8 | 10 | 7 | 8 | 13 | 12 | 12 | 17 | 11 | 12 |
Active breeders/Aktiewe telers | 89 | 89 | 83 | 84 | 98 | 90 | 90 | 102 | 96 | 92 |
According to figure 1, The ewe contribution by region 1 (Eastern Cape) increased by one percent to 21 percent while the contribution by region 2 (Karoo) decreased by yet another three percent to only 13 percent. The number of ewes in the Southern Cape (region 3) remained stable at 16 percent but the number of ewes in the Western Cape and Western Karoo areas (region 4) increased by one percent to 12 percent. The ewe contribution by region 5 ((Free State) remained at 19 percent but region 6 (KZN, Eastern Free State and Mpumalanga) increased by 1 percent to 19 percent. However, the Western Cape and Western Karoo areas (Region 4) remain the smallest with an ewe contribution of 12 percent. The Eastern Cape (region 1) is the biggest region at 21 percent with regions 5 and 6 at 19 percent being the second largest. The number of registered ewes per region (varying between 4084 and 7498) increased marginally compared to the previous year. It can be concluded that the core of the national Dohne Merino flock remained stable despite quite volatile external factors.
Figure 1: Distribution of stud Dohne Merinos on a regional basis
- Lambing percentage
The lambing percentage for all studs in 2020 was 4 percent lower than for 2019 (Table 3). This change may be ascribed to generally dryer conditions in all sheep production areas, rather than genetic factors.
Table 3 Lambing percentage of stud Dohne Merino ewes
2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 |
139% | 144% | 142% | 138% | 144% | 146% | 146% | 149% | 145% |
3.1 Birth registrations
A total of 31030 births were registered. Of these births 26828 lambs ( 86 percent) were recorded at 100 days of age (Table 7). The birth status of these birth registrations is as follows:
year | Total births | Singles | Twins | Triplets | Quadruplets |
2020 | 31030 | 12143 | 16064 | 2500 | 323 |
Single born lambs constituted 39.1 percent of the 2020 lamb drop and twin born lambs 51.8 percent of the lamb drop. In the wake of a 4 percent lower lambing percentage (Table 3), these figures serve as an indication of the inherent fertility and fecundity of the breed.
- Inspections & selection intensity
Table 4 indicates the number of sheep approved, expressed as a percentage of the number of lambs present at final inspection (12 months). Less animals were approved during 2020 than for 2019. Despite a lower lambing percentage (Table 3), the approval percentages for both ewes (57%) and rams (49%) were also marginally lower than for 2019. These figures may therefore be an indication of stud breeders selecting their animals slightly stricter than the previous year. One obvious reason may be that flock breeders are more selective when buying rams and are also buying less rams when average prices for rams are higher.
Note that the statistics in Table 4 are based on classing lists received at the office of the breed society during the calendar year and do not relate to the number of animals on which measurements were taken per birthyear (Table 7).
Table/Tabel 4 Number of sheep approved and selection intensity/Getal skape goedgekeur en seleksie intensiteit
Lamb crop/ Lammeroes | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 |
Ewes/
Ooie |
7435
(57%) |
7804
(55%) |
8717
(57%) |
8069
(47%) |
6658
(47%) |
9781
(59%) |
8469
(60%) |
9781
(59%) |
8385
(57%) |
Ramme/
Rams |
6360
(50%) |
7199
(48%) |
6518
(48%) |
6460
(39%) |
5418
(39%) |
7376
(50%) |
6564
(50%) |
7376
(50%) |
5855
(49%) |
AA Rams/
AA Ramme |
2727
(20%) |
2892
(17%) |
2896
(17%) |
2866
(16%)
|
2496
(16%) |
3016
(20%) |
2469
(19%) |
3016
(20%) |
2577
(18%) |
Table 5 indicates that the number of F3 ewes presented for inspection increased. This tendency can partly be ascribed to new studs founded by upgrading from flock-animals continuously entering the industry. Compared to the 1796 F3 ewes inspected only 1702 ( 9.5 percent) were approved. This approval percentage is also increasing slightly every year which proves upgrading is becoming a more important factor.
Table/Tabel 5 Number of F3-ewes inspected/Getal F3-ooie geinspekteer
2021 | 2020 | 2019 | 2018 | 2017 | 2016 | 2015 | 2014 | 2013 | 2012 |
17966 | 13193 | 12564 | 13268 | 15688 | 7629 | 6069 | 10,235 | 9,595 | 13,108 |
- Sales of breeding material
The total number of 2479 rams sold during 2021, represent the lowest number of rams sold on sales for the past eight years. However, the average price of R13 735 represents an increase of 20.8 percent compared to 2020. This increase in the average price of rams resulted in a record turnover of R36.38 million. The trend of commercial farmers paying higher prices for top genetic material to use in their own ‘improvement programs’ seems to be at a high. Dohne Merino stud breeders are therefore required to provide sound genetic advice to especially flock breeders buying high priced rams.
Table/Tabel 6: Sales – 2013 tot 2020 – Veilings
2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | |
No of public sales/
Pub veil |
48 | 48 | 44 | 45 | 46 | 48 | 48 | 43 |
No of rams sold/
Ramme verk |
2774 | 2718 | 2524 | 2603 | 2810 | 2619 | 2539 | 2479 |
Turnover/
Omset |
23,997,299 | 22,793,750 | 23,243,400 | 28,807,401 | 32,980,970 | 31,568,567 | 27,629,398 | 36,380,000 |
Highest price/
Hoogste prys |
160,000 | 130,000×2 | 110,000 | 220,000 | 335,000 | 180,000 | 150,000 | 120,000 |
Average price/
Gemid prys |
8,651 | 8,386 | 9,204 |
11,067
|
11,737 | 11,470 | 10,882 | 13,735 |
No of ewes transf/
Ooi oordra |
396 | 929 | 482 | 366 | 276 |
236
|
143 | 328 |
- Technical matters
6.1 Production recording
The figures for 2020 in table 7, indicates lower levels of production as well as lower numbers of animals evaluated at weaning and 12-months of age. A total of 26828 weaning weights (25 percent less than 2019) and 18294 animals at 12-months of age, were recorded. The loss between weaning and twelve months of age, is therefore 31.8 percent. (8534 lambs). Drought and economic conditions forced breeders to proportionally cull more animals at weaning every year. It is trusted that pending farming conditions, breeders will resort back to retain as many animals as possible for final 12-month-old evaluation. Research by Dr W Olivier confirmed the value of retaining as many animals as possible for final testing and selecting more accurately for accelerating genetic change.
Table/Tabel 7 Average production values of Dohne Merinos/Gemiddelde produksiewaardes
Test group/
Toetsgroep |
2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 |
No Animals 100 days/
Getal diere 100 dae |
13,519
13,483 |
17,050
16,067 |
16,753
17,066 |
17,200
17,300 |
18867
18730 |
16511
16340 |
19294
19249 |
17576
17698 |
16081
15729 |
13493
13335 |
Weaning weight/
Speengewig (kg) |
29.87
32.41 |
29.57
31.69 |
29.12
31.33 |
28.79
30.96 |
28.24
30.31 |
30.04
32.51 |
27.7
29.1 |
30.07
32.49 |
29.90
32.46 |
28.21
30.41 |
No Animals at 12 mths/
Getal diere 12 mde |
11,518
10,878 |
14,115
12,268 |
12,544
12,123 |
13,350
12,073 |
14,379
12,416 |
15,057
11,710 |
13909
11798 |
13771
12108 |
12364
10319 |
9755 8539
|
Body weight/
Liggaams gewig (kg) |
45.80
62.02 |
45.15
60.39 |
44.64
60.64 |
45.26
60,25 |
45.30
60.08 |
46.54
60.19 |
46.47
63.69 |
47.68
65..16 |
46.43
63.50 |
44.89
61.07 |
Clean Fleece weight/
Skoonvag gewig (kg) |
2.79
3.35 |
2.81
3.34 |
2.62
3.05 |
2.66
3.16 |
3.03
3.32 |
3.02
3.30 |
2.61 3.10
|
3.02
3.61 |
2.82
3.44 |
2.67
3.11 |
Fibre diameter/
Veseldikte (µ) |
17.90
18.33 |
17.68
17.94 |
17.72
17.93 |
17.58
17.84 |
17.94
18.00 |
17.94
17.96 |
17.70
18.10 |
17.91
18.24 |
17.50
17.90 |
17.17 17.58 |
WPP % | 6.09
5.40 |
6.22
5.53 |
5.9
5.0 |
5.88
5.24 |
6.50
5.51 |
6.48
5.48 |
5.62
4.87 |
6.33
5.54 |
6.07
5.41 |
5.95
5.09 |
Society recommends that breeders make use of the production figures in table 7 to set target weights for evaluating their own stud animals. The WPP% declined slightly for the 2020 born animals. Because of prevailing drought conditions and lower overall production figures, this drop for especially rams was to be expected.
6.2 Genetic change
Table 8: Breed averages for breeding values of Dohne Merinos born in 2020 and changes in the averages of breeding values from 2019 to 2020.
Trait | Number lambs
Weaned(%) |
Weaning
Direct (kg) |
Weaning
Maternal (kg) |
12months
Body weight |
Clean
Fleece Weight |
Fibre
Diameter (µ) |
General
Merit |
Average | +0.61 | +0.72 | -0.04 | +1.10 | +0.10 | -0.15 | +4.61 |
Change | +0.34 | +0.22 | +0.02 | +0.44 | +0.03 | -0.04 | +1.34 |
The figures presented in table 8 were the results of breeding value comparisons with 2017 as base year. Table 8 indicates significant changes in the growth rate and 12 months body weight of South African Dohne Merinos. It is encouraging that number of lambs weaned per ewe lambed expressed as a percentage per ewe lifetime showed improvement. Wool production and wool fineness seem to be stable but general merit improved.
6.3 Genetic linkage
Using the definition of a genetic link as a sire having more than 20 offspring in each of at least two studs, a total of 292 such links were identified for animals born in the 10-year period between 2011 and 2020. The stud industry therefore complies to the minimum requirement for individual studs to use at least one link sire every five years. A total of five Dohne Merino studs had 10 or more links during the 10-year period while a total of 17 studs had only one or less genetic links. This skewness in linkage indicates that a significant portion of the industry remains insufficiently genetically linked. One of the main reasons include unequal distribution of the progeny of different sires within the same contemporary group. It is trusted that all Dohne Merino stud breeders will strive towards using sufficient link sires.
6.3 Other technical matters
Technical discussions regarding upgrading of office software as well as on-farm software took place. The awards by SA Studbook regarding completeness and accuracy of recording was addressed. Revision of the bylaws of the society is also in process.
- Top Breeder awards
Congratulations to the National Top breeder Winner Mr. Boeta Wessels, owner of the Weska Dohne Merino stud.
The Dohne Merino Breed Society thanks our sponsors – Virbac, BKB, Voermol and Molatek who sponsor this prestigious event on a continuous basis. Congratulations also to the Zoetis Dohne Merino man of the year – Mr. Wicus Bekker – CRUX Dohnes who succeeded in exporting South African Dohne Merino genetic material to South America.
- Administration
8.1 Annual General Meeting
After appropriate election of councilors, the following council was appointed: Philippie Marais (president), JH (Koenas) van der Westhuizen (vice-president), Andries Marx, Andries Greyling, Marcellene van Rooyen, Dries Pienaar, DH (Boeta) Wessels, Mr. John Morris and Richard Armstrong.
8.2 Finances
The Breed Society’s finances were sound. Investments of the society had grown according to expectations.
8.3 Per capita fee
It was decided to increase the per capita fee to R25.00
8.4 Courses and Promotion
The main course at Stutterheim took place as well as an advanced course for inspectors at Bredasdorp. Another course were held at Frankfort in conjunction with the first of three think tanks presented by the breed society. The theme for the think tanks was “back to basics to grow into the future.” It is trusted that breeders took note of the discussions and that they will apply the outcome in their own studs. It is foreseen that normal courses will proceed when health conditions in South Africa return to normal.
8.5 Staff
Office personnel provided outstanding service. Marion Krause, chief office administrator, is in the process of training the newly appointed office administrator, Me. Annelize Bertalan.
9. Acknowledgements and thanks
The support of all organizations that contributed to the success achieved by the Dohne Merino stud industry is thankfully acknowledged. A special thank you to all our sponsors, breeders and inspectors for their efficient service provided to the breed and the small stock industry.