Toverberg Merinos

The Merino Stud

Abraham originally comes from Venterstad, but with the construction of the Gariep Dam, their family farm was expropriated in 1962. The family traditionally farms with Merinos and Abraham has been running his Merino stud since 1962.

One of the biggest traps for the stud breeder is that you buy feed rather than genetic potential. So-called supplementation for better performance certainly has disadvantages.

"I believe in animals that are adapted to their environment. We farm in an extensive area where sheep have to survive and produce on the veld. Therefore, it is a matter of principle for me that I do not supplement. My lambing percentages, without the twins, always lie between 97% and 98%, extensively, without any feed. I do help my twins on green feed."

The Ideal Merino

"Is in the first place adapted and not dependent on the cooperative for survival. Secondly, I strive for a balance between meat and wool properties with a micron average of around 20. With fine wool you lose meat properties. I think that at this stage of my life I have a fair idea of the qualities that work for me on my farm.

Selection pressure, I believe, is the most important requirement for a naturally adapted sheep or cattle, but there is one important condition for this: the farmer's eye must be right.

After all the decades in farming, I believe that there are two things that count in wool sheep and that is type and field management. An animal must perform on the veld without any supplementation."