The parent stud of a rising sheep breed has been offered for sale

The parent stud of the much admired Garnett SheepMaster has been offered for sale.

Agents say the sale offers a discerning buyer an incredible opportunity to shape the next era of Australian sheep breeding.

The former owner of the famous Collinsville Merino Stud, Neil Garnett and business partners Brian and Susi Prater plus Alison Bannan have decided to sell the stud, presenting the unique opportunity .

The SheepMaster breed has risen to prominence after being registered by breed founder Neil Garnett in 2017 to create a shedding animal with high fertility, good feet and constitution, with the productivity to maximise dollars per hectare.

The stud is being offered as a turn-key opportunity with all stud ewes and progeny, young rams, trademark, all marketing material and a full history of sheep performance records.

The Damara was used as the foundation breed for the SheepMaster to produce family orientation, hardiness, natural self-reliance, a small productive udder and strong mothering instincts.

Over its development seven other genetic lines - Van Rooy, Kojak, Dorper, UltraWhite, White Suffolk, East Fresian and Finn - have been included to create today's tough, easy to manage fertile SheepMaster.

Elders agents said shedded sheep are playing a growing and important role in the industry allowing sheep producer options to manage rising costs, animal welfare concerns, and mitigate variable climatic conditions.

The SheepMaster breed is a 100 per cent shedding sheep which breeders say eliminates the need for shearing, crutching, mulesing and tailing and associated infrastructure.

As well as his Collinsville fame, Mr Garnett is the holder of the world record for the highest priced ram every sold and was awarded the Advanced Australia Award in 1989 by the Federal Government for his contribution to sheep breeding industry.

In recent times, Mr Garnett has broken more ram sale records with the SheepMaster breed with the highest priced ram sold in Western Australia for 31 years at $110,000 and a sale average of $10,159.

He has established the breed from a base of eight different meat and shedding sheep breeds from Israel, Europe, Africa, and Australia.

Based on his 50 years of sheep breeding experience, Mr Garnett said he stuck to a strict selection criterion, putting the best with the best.

The outcome is a silky skinned sheep, 100pc shedding, with high fertility and resilience to climatic variability.

The principal aim was to produce a sheep which stripped out as many production costs as possible.

Elders national livestock manager Peter Homann said the breed has a unique and enviable value proposition for producers committed to the versatility and potential of the shedding breed of sheep.

The breed has significant potential for further growth in the sheep wheat zone of Australia, it is a high meat yielding breed able to perform across a wider climatic range.

"We believe there is also the potential for this breed to push into some areas traditionally dominated by cattle," Mr Homann said.

Mr Garnett said the sale offered a dynamic opportunity for a buyer who sees the value and potential of the SheepMaster breed to acquire 100 per cent of the parent flock.

"We are offering to the market an opportunity for the successful buyer to control the parent stud of this high-performance breed, build on our dedicated and growing client base, and push expand the breed into new areas," he said.

"We have worked tirelessly to develop a functional and commercially viable shedding maternal breed that will drive increased profitability and sustainability in the lamb/sheep meat sector," Mr Garnett said.

"We feel we have achieved what we set out to do by growing a true shedding breed that can provide huge commercial and animal welfare benefits to the producer."

Stud advisor Andrew Hodgson and principal of Shedding Sheep Australia said the interest and demand for shedding type sheep continues to grow at an unprecedented rate, driven mainly by labour and management concerns."

"Both commercial and stud clients are increasing across all climatic and grazing environments on an almost daily basis with producers keen for information on how to transition to a clean skinned maternal ewe flock, whilst maintaining key production performance criteria."

Elders general manager (farmland agency) Mark Barber said it was rare to have the opportunity to acquire control of the foundation genetics of such a high performing animal breed such as this.

"The growth potential for the successful buyer is substantial in an industry the Australia dominates globally," he said.

The stud is being offered by way of a two-stage expression of interest process supported by comprehensive performance data and full access to the stud.

For more information and the expressions of interest contact Mark Barber on 0427 603433 or Peter Homann, 0427 277073.