TOP SIRE 2026–2027 MERINOS ON FARM BREEDING TO THE MERINO’S STRENGTH AT ROCKVIEW AG The Molloy family have positioned themselves among Australia’s top wool producers through a blend of strict classing and defined breeding objectives in their Merino flock. Josh Molloy, along with his father Michael and younger brother Matthew, operate Rockview Ag, a mixed farming operation consisting of a balanced commitment to both cropping – primarily wheat, barley, vetch, and canola – and a thriving sheep enterprise. Spanning 1920 hectares at Yerong Creek, with additional blocks at nearby Henty and The Rock, the Molloy’s sheep operation consists of 4000 Merino ewes. Around 45% of the Molloy’s ewes are joined to a White Suffolk sire for their prime lamb operation with the remaining ewes joined to Merino sires with a solid focus on wool production. Josh Molloy heads the sheep breeding program for the family partnership and said they aimed to produce a medium-framed sheep that achieves reasonable growth while selecting for fibre diameter and fleece weight. “I’m a big believer in breeding an animal to its strengths and, for the Merino, that’s wool,” Josh said. The Molloy’s breeding program employs several benchmarking tools, one of which is feedback provided from the Australian Merino Production Trial (AMPT). In their third year of entering the AMPT, Rockview Ag wethers returned the highest value fleeces from the 2026 shearing, averaging $98.60 across the team. The fleece produced 7.7kg GFW and 4.5kg CFW with a 17.2-micron fibre diameter, 3-micron SD, 17.7% CV and 99.7% CF. Josh said they had seen their results consistently improve with each trial. “Since the first year we entered, we have focused more Photo caption. Josh Molloy, owner of Rockview Ag with his father Michael and brother Matthew, at their farm at Yerong Crek. (Photo: Alexandra Bernard, The Land) – 22 –
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