Now N.Z. Romney

Press, Issue 31095, 25 June 1966, Page 9

Now N.Z. Romney

QHEEP show catalogues will show a slight but significant change this year in the Romney section. Up till now this has been described as a

section for the Kent or Romney Marsh breed. Now the breed association has recognised the place the New Zealand Romney holds in the world sheep industry as a strain of animal distinctly different from its parent stock.

At the annual meeting of registered Romney breeders in Feilding it was unanimously decided the time had come to delete the word Marsh from the name of the breed and the association. From now on the sheep will be known as the New Zealand Romney. Close links with overseas breeders’ associations will, of course, be maintained.

The sheep takes its name from the Romney Marshes in the south of Kent, England. English breeders concentrated on the meat producing qualities of the breed, but it was the New Zealand studmasters who recognised the potential for a truly dual purpose sheep which would produce both high quality wool and mutton.

Today, more than threequarters of New Zealand's 59m sheep are Romneys and about 85 per cent of the New Zealand wool clip is Romney or Romney cross. Romney ewes produce most of New Zealand’s 21m export lambs, of which about 40 per cent are straight Romneys and just over 50 per cent are Romney/ Southdown cross. Romneys were first introduced into New Zealand in 1853 and the first breeder was Arthur Ludlam, of Lower Hutt.

New Zealand Romneys have been exported to many countries in North and South America, Australia, Asia, and even the United Kingdom. The most recent large order has been for mainland China and these will be shipped soon.