Winery introduces babydoll sheep

In his quest to develop the world's leading sustainable vineyard, Peter Yealands has come up with a novel way to keep the grass down at his 1,000 hectare vineyard in the most sustainable way reports Scoop. "Mowing the lawns at a 1,000 hectare vineyard uses a fair bit of fuel so we're looking to these miniature sheep to help out," says Peter Yealands, owner and founder of Yealands Estate. Since Yealands Estate launched in August 2008, Peter has experimented with a range of alternatives to traditional tractor mowing. It began with regular sheep but unfortunately they developed a taste for the grapes. Peter's second idea was to use guinea pigs although this proved unviable on a commercial scale. His latest idea is one Peter is convinced will have major environmental benefits. And because babydoll sheep only reach a diminutive 45 "“ 60 centimetres tall when fully grown, they are no threat to the grapes. The newest arrivals are being grazed amongst 125 hectares of sauvignon blanc vines that will be grown organically and are attracting interest from local and international winegrowers.  Peter plans to cross-breed the babydoll sheep with Saxon merino and grow the flock to 10,000. This will provide additional opportunities in the textile industry as baby doll wool is fine and has a high lustre. There's also a possibility to sell niche cuts of meat to restaurants.  The second and third deliveries of sheep are due by October this year and it is believed it will be the only flock of babydoll sheep in New Zealand. This latest initiative follows a series of accolades for the winery's sustainability platform. In April it received caboNZero certification and May it won the Small Business Awards at the Energy Efficiency and Conservation Authority (EECA) Awards.