Rams

Landcorp produces rams that deliver ongoing improvement in maternal traits in its Romney and Landmark flocks. To take best advantage of these improvements, Landcorp also breeds Lamb Supreme and Texel as terminal sires.

Landcorp Romney are well proven throughout New Zealand as hardy, productive sheep. The Company's flock maintains a lambing rate over 150%. The Landcorp Romney has high ewe survivability against health challenges such as facial eczema. Performance recorded since the 1960s, Landcorp Romney is the foundation of Landcorp's 490,000 commercial ewe flock which continues to increase lamb production.

Landcorp Landmark is the Company's second maternal sheep breed based on Landcorp Romney, mated initially to rams with a genetic mix from 10 selected breeds. The progeny have then been bred, recorded and selected to increase their genetically-based profit earning ability. As a relatively new breed, Landcorp Landmark is finding its place as a high-performing maternal sheep which responds strongly to high levels of nutrition.

Landcorp Lamb Supreme is a terminal sire breed created by Landcorp. An initial screening of 501,000 ewe hoggets in 1990 created a flock of 4,000 for mating with select white faced breeds. Their progeny over three years became the basis of the Landcorp Lamb Supreme flock.

Over the years since, intensive recording, evaluation and selection (including CT scanning) have led to a composite sire breed that increases carcass lean meat with minimal increase in carcass fat, and that has higher placement of meat in the high value cuts. Landcorp's two Lamb Supreme flocks consistently perform at a very high level in the SIL ACE evaluations. (Flocks 3003 and 3004 are reported in the ACE Trait Leaders: Meat Reports

Landcorp Texel was established in 1990 and is selectively bred as a terminal sire. The selection criteria are the same as Landcorp Lamb Supreme, using the same InnerVision^TM and InnerValue^TM technologies to create sires that have no maternal selection but contribute to the meat production of Landcorp's commercial flock with more kilograms of lean lamb carcass per ewe mated.

The Landcorp Texel is Flock 3007 in the SIL ACE evaluation for ACE Trait Leaders: Meat Reports