Ram hogget deal popular with farmers

In an innovative approach to selling its genetic stock Focus Genetics is offering a buy now, pay later plan for its ram hoggets.

The partnership that has evolved out of Rissington Breedline and Landcorp's breeding division is using its size to cull harder and select superior genes from animals produced.

One only has to look at the genetic progress the dairy industry has made by focusing on using a small number superior sires over a large amount of animals in the industry to see what progress can be made.

If this company can replicate just a small amount of this and benchmark its self against our overseas competitors, the sheep industry should make good in roads into improving productivity for all farmers.

I think the day of the small stud breeder who promotes his animals via ribbons won in shows is over. What are your thoughts on this company's dominace in animal genetics in this country?

Farmers can now acquire a new ram hogget without opening their cheque book. Hawke's Bay company Focus Genetics has launched its new ram leasing offer in time for the hogget season, allowing farmers to take home a new ram and pay for it out of the proceeds from the lambs it produces next season.

Chief executive Graham Leech said the no-cash up front offer was proving popular with farmers reports The Dom Post.

Instead of writing a cheque, the price of the ram will be deducted when the farmer receives a cheque for the lamb he produces.

Focus Genetics is the largest red meat genetics seller in New Zealand, selling rams, stags and bulls to New Zealand farmers and to a smaller extent Britain, Australia and South America. The company contracts farmers to grow sires and has hundreds of thousands of animals in its genetic database.

Focus Genetics was born out of Rissington Breedline and Landcorp Farming Genetics Division. Merging the two largest genetics companies in the red meat sector has given Focus Genetics about 10 to 12 per cent of the New Zealand market.

Farmers want ewes that are longer lasting, more fertile and wean more lambs and want those lambs to have more meat and get to weight quicker. With the bigger scale comes more resources.

Focus has six full- time employees in their science R&D breeding team. Leech estimates that Focus is selling about 5000 rams, 500 bulls and 300 stags annually to New Zealand farmers. The average purchase price for a ram is $600, bulls go for about $3400 while stag prices sit at about $410.

It also sells about 300 rams in the United Kingdom and has a contract with supermarket giant Marks and Spencer, who last year funded a trial analysing the performance of sheep from Focus Genetics against the performance of sheep from United Kingdom farmers. The results are expected in June. Focus Genetics intend to expand business in Britain if the trial returns favourable results.