The Te Ruanui rams are bred to survive and perform on the East Coast hill country after growing up under some of the toughest hill country in the district. "There is no environment worse than this for sheep and with a 10.5 stocking rate, it certainly sorts them out. Anything that can't make it, is out," says Polled Dorset breeder Craig Brownlie. The rams are all run as one mob on the steep hill country farm on the Gentle Annie at Waerenga-o-Kuri reports The Gisborne Times. "For this lot of rams we started out with 380 hoggets and now have about half that to sell. It is natural selection and when they go on to their next home there is a better chance they are going to hack the pace because of the life they have had. "Having the bigger flock gives Craig the freedom to cull anything that does not make the grade and continue with the type of sheep they want to breed. Structural soundness is still the top priority in the stud but another area of importance is growth rate."That is a very important trait for a terminal sire."
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