Bella Lana

Property name: “Birrell Vale”

Location: 16km south of Wellington, NSW, Australia.

Our property consists of 980 hectares of undulating hills and open valleys, with a mix of native and improved pastures, and some grazing cereals. On Birrell Vale, our sole focus is our Merino sheep operation, consisting of 800 stud ewes and 1800 commercial ewes.

History

Both my father and grandfather were breeding Merinos on Egelabra Bloodlines. In 1995 we changed our direction and bought rams from Wallaloo Park. Four years ago I decided to follow my passion for sheep and the dream of starting a stud. Part of that dream is to become a major source of genetics for the future of the Australian Merino industry.

People:

I have always had a love for the sheep industry. Growing up on a family farm, I experienced the running of the farm first-hand. When I left school I learnt how to shear and spent 15 years as a shearer and wool-classer. Even though shearing is one of the hardest jobs on earth, it made me more motivated to have a direct influence on the genetics of the sheep. That is when I placed all my efforts into operating a stud and with the help and guidance of John Carter, I was able to register “Bella Lana” Merino Stud in 2007. My wife, Anna is also very passionate about the stud and provides financial and administrational assistance and works as a teacher in the local school. She is also our PR person.

Merinos suit us because of our passion and belief in our sheep and the industry. Bella Lana is very much a family-based enterprise where our daughters, Sarah, Jane and Hannah, show their keenness and have hands-on involvement in the running of the farm.

Sustainable Production:

We rotationally-graze our stock for ease of management and to bolster pasture health. Both the stud and commercial flocks are run together as one flock - except for the periods of joining and lambing. We ceased mulesing 4 years ago and have never looked back.

Benefits of SRS®

We decided to go down the path of SRS Merinos in 1995 because we wanted to lift production from our flock. At that time, we were achieving lambing percentages of just 80 to 85% and wastage of 30 to 35%. We also embraced SRS because we were tired of putting sheep in a corner every second day over spring and summer to treat them for flystrike!

After only a few years, we were getting marked improvements in all of the above areas. We now average from 100 to 130% lambing, and cull just 10 to 15%. We have lowered our micron to a flock average of 19.1 and increased our wool cut to 7kg a head. We no longer spend our whole life chasing flies!

Contacts:
Name: Scott and Anna Brien
Address: “Birrell Vale”, Dripstone, via Wellington. NSW
Website: www.bellalanamerinos.com.au
Ph: 0268467477
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