When asked for his comments on the trail, Graham said, “Environment has shown to play a big part in progenies’ ability to express themselves. At Balmoral, where heavier stocking and harder winters prevail, the progeny of sires for fleece weight did not vary to large degrees in early life. However, when taken to Merinolink and Macquarie, the production of those same sires’ progeny increased markedly when given far more favourable conditions. So, from a breeding perspective, environment plays a big part in how genetics can perform. When genetics for high fleece and body weight are combined in areas of high stocking and worm burden, they cannot express their full genetic potential, so in a commercial operation they would be culled due to taking too long to mature”. Graham added, “It is important to select genetics that adapted to the region they will be run in.” From his detailed study, Graham said the data showed that the progeny of rams that came from studs that participated in showing or wether trial benchmarking (or had clients who did) were generally placed in the top third for lifetime fleece weight. “The bottom third in the trial for lifetime fleece weight mainly used ASBVs as their primary selection method,” Graham said. “The raw data of the trial, I believe, is very important in giving you a full picture of the progeny’s performance for all the economic traits over their lifetime and how different types change with age and environment. The sires whose progeny had the best lifetime wool cuts in MLP had a combination of longer staple, combined with staple structure and density suited to the limit of the environment in which they ran.” Graham believes that the selection of staple length only, without the other combined fleece traits, will lead to diminished fleece weight at mature age. Three One Oakblood sires were in the top 24 sire progeny for profit per hectare analysis in the MLP trial. In 2013, Graham and Mary Wells decided to retire from active stud breeding. After a farewell tour over the next 12 months, they put the three studs up for a dispersal auction in 2014, selling approximately 4000 Merinos on the day. Three guest speakers spoke of the contribution Graham and the One Oak stud had made, including Wally Merriman, Ross Wells and Marie Chapman. The dispersal brought breeders from across Australia to compete for their genetics. Sires sold to $30,000, with the top-priced Merino purchased by the Phillips family, Yarrawonga stud. Wally Merriman, Merryville, Boorowa, purchased Red 56 “Magnusson” for $16,000. This sire had a celebrated show career, cutting 18kg in the production class at Sydney Royal in 2010. Of interest, “Magnusson” was the result of a joint ET program between One Oak and Tara Park. The ET mother had been sashed Supreme Exhibit at Sydney Show in 2009, sired by TP4202, “Dogmeat”. Three ET flushes were carried out. Of the flush which produced “Magnusson”, the ram lambs were retained by One Oak while the ewe progeny went to Tara Park. A full sister of “Magnusson” won the 2011 Sydney Royal production class cutting 16.4kg. Many felt he should have been Supreme Exhibit at Sydney, including Wally who backed his judgment in purchasing this sire. Red 56 was selected as a link sire in the MLP project for its high production figures. The Yanko purchased another sire for $15,000. The special stud ewes peaked at $12,000 to Willandra, with others making $10,000, $9000 and $8000. Studs who purchased on the day included Lachlan Merino, Manunda, Mullorie, Mt Ascot, Melrose, Beverly, West Plains, Grogansworth and Boudjah, amongst many others. The sheep were magnificently presented and a culmination of a lifetime of breeding. Progeny of this dispersal continue in top Merino studs across the country and give Graham great satisfaction in their ongoing success. Graham Wells’ contribution to our industry spanned 60 years. In that time, he developed genetics that could adapt to nearly all wool-growing regions and were crafted to suit the industry’s needs for market conditions as presented. He made significant contributions to industry groups, particularly NSW SMBA. His motto, “for the good of the industry”, drove many progressive initiatives within the stud industry. Graham Wells truly deserves his place in the NSW SMBA Hall of Fame. One Oak show and sale rams– with Bert Taylor, long-time One Oak employee. – 51 –
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