Adrian McNaughton(48) farms with his family (brother Ronald) on the farm Houdconstant in the Graaff Reinet district. “We are primarily Merino sheep farmers with a beef component and some Game for hunting,” he says.
The Merino is the biggest Small stock breed in South Africa due to its ability to produce unmatched quality wool and feeder lambs.
The family’s stud, Charmac Merinos originated when his parents, Henri and Charne joined their studs. Both their studs origins date back to the 1930s.
“From a young age our bedroom walls were covered by award winning animals and there was never any doubt about the value of the Merino,” says Adrian.
Adrian McNaughton.
“The Merino has always produced the best quality wool and today’s Modern Merino has mutton and fertility characteristics that make it competitive with mutton breeds.”
The studs mission is to strengthen the Modern Merinos’ position as the leading Dual Purpose Breed of choice across South Africa.
Merino SA is the first Smallstock Breed to generate Genomic Breeding Values. “We want to use this to further improve our Genetic base and make our Merinos more productive,” he added.
Merino SA wants to get more farmers to be part of them. “We plan to reach out to young commercial producers by linking them to successful Merino farmers thus showing them what the Merino is capable of,” he said.
How to become a Merino SA member:
“It is very easy to become a member of Merino SA, you need to present 50 ewes for inspection by our Breed Inspectors. Once passed, you can operate as a Stud using the Merino Plan as your guide,” says Adrian.
Interested persons can go to www.merinosa.co.za or contact Merino SA’s new manager, Willie van Heerden at 082-571-2742 or Adrian McNaughton at 082-649-1553.
