OUR STORY
1967 Bill & Di Carthew (Simons parents) purchased “The Grange”, Ngaturi – Romney Flock – 1967 lambing 84%
1968 Purchased Border Leicester Romney cross interbred rams and commenced recording for productive traits
1969 Joined the National Flock Recording Scheme, set up by MAF which subsequently became “Sheeplan”. Involved in the formation of the Coopworth Sheep Society.
1992 “The Grange” was sold and Turnberry Farm purchased. Our registered Coopworth Flock came with us and we purchased the Turnberry ewes and hoggets. We had been selling rams to Turnberry Farm for 20 years – so, effectively bought our own sheep.
1996 Simon and Pascale (a Flight Attendant from Switzerland) meet in Taupo and fall in love
1997 Formed an alliance with Landcorp - embryo transfer program gets our Carthew Landcorp Lamb Supreme stud off to a great start
1998 Pascale and Simon (we) lease Turnberry Farm off Bill and Di.
1999 We purchased Turnberry Farm, New Zealand and kept expanding the Coopworth and Landcorp Lamb Supreme stud.
2002 We purchased Turnberry Farm, Australia - extensive embryo transfer program and transfer of 600 in-lamb ewe (biggest airfreight consignment of live stock to Australia at the time) ensured instant access to Carthew Genetics in Australia.
2002 Introduced Suffolk genetics - Carthew Suffolk Supreme (Goldstream and Paki-iti top genetics)
2008 - 10 Sale of Turnberry Farm NZ and Australia - all NZ stud animals come with us while all Australian stud animals get sold in Australia.
Introduced Ian Walsh 'Falkirk " sheep selection system . Implemented every year since.
2010 - 12 Leasing farm at Linton, Palmerston North and infusion of Romney genetics ( mainly from Richard Warren, Wairarapa - top Falkirk accrediated stud rams used )
2011 - today Leasing Hill Country Farm in Kimbolton
OUR POINT OF DIFFERENCE
1967 Bill & Di Carthew (Simons parents) purchased “The Grange”, Ngaturi – Romney Flock – 1967 lambing 84%
1968 Purchased Border Leicester Romney cross interbred rams and commenced recording for productive traits
1969 Joined the National Flock Recording Scheme, set up by MAF which subsequently became “Sheeplan”. Involved in the formation of the Coopworth Sheep Society.
1992 “The Grange” was sold and Turnberry Farm purchased. Our registered Coopworth Flock came with us and we purchased the Turnberry ewes and hoggets. We had been selling rams to Turnberry Farm for 20 years – so, effectively bought our own sheep.
1996 Simon and Pascale (a Flight Attendant from Switzerland) meet in Taupo and fall in love
1997 Formed an alliance with Landcorp - embryo transfer program gets our Carthew Landcorp Lamb Supreme stud off to a great start
1998 Pascale and Simon (we) lease Turnberry Farm off Bill and Di.
1999 We purchased Turnberry Farm, New Zealand and kept expanding the Coopworth and Landcorp Lamb Supreme stud.
2002 We purchased Turnberry Farm, Australia - extensive embryo transfer program and transfer of 600 in-lamb ewe (biggest airfreight consignment of live stock to Australia at the time) ensured instant access to Carthew Genetics in Australia.
2002 Introduced Suffolk genetics - Carthew Suffolk Supreme (Goldstream and Paki-iti top genetics)
2008 - 10 Sale of Turnberry Farm NZ and Australia - all NZ stud animals come with us while all Australian stud animals get sold in Australia.
Introduced Ian Walsh 'Falkirk " sheep selection system . Implemented every year since.
2010 - 12 Leasing farm at Linton, Palmerston North and infusion of Romney genetics ( mainly from Richard Warren, Wairarapa - top Falkirk accrediated stud rams used )
2011 - today Leasing Hill Country Farm in Kimbolton
OUR POINT OF DIFFERENCE
- All our sheep are fully recorded, with full ancestry information on both dams and sires going back to 1967 with Carthew Coopworths, 1989 with Carthew Landcorp Lamb Supreme and 2002 with Carthew Suffolk Supreme
- Commercially driven not Stud driven since 1967. Our recorded sheep receive no preferential treatment, They are farmed, performance recorded and selected in a typically hill country environment with commercial stocking rates, steep hills and a cold climate ( 600 meters asl
- Low inputs - with particular emphasis on minimal drenching, ie worm resilience. Ram hoggets in particular will receive high exposure to worms with a minimal drench regime and then selected accordingly. In the last few years we have also moved decisively into worm resistance, aiming to reduce most of the contamination by eliminating the bottom 10% of animals that are doing 50% of contaminating.
- Constitution and structural soundness - we've resisted the temptation to compromise on this. All sheep are "appraised" by Ian Walsh, Falkirk and selected accordingly - the core essence, presence and soundness has lifted signifcantly since using Falkirk in our selection process.
- Longevity and survival - again our thorough selection criteria encourages this. Backed up with selection for mothering ability, sires particularly good for lamb survival and some selective mating of older elite ewes.
- Carthew Landcorp Lamb Supreme - white faced terminal sires that have been developed by Landcorp with no expense spared to maximise carcass productivity. We're the only breeders outside Landcorp that have these sheep. There's no better terminal sire to compliment our Coopworths.
- Carthew Suffolk Supreme - a black face alternative developed by us utilising the best Suffolk & Lamb Supreme available.
- Carthew Coopworth Romney X - exciting new cross - possibly the future of farming! A blend of the best with the best
- Carthew Coopworth FE - our facial eczema line, bred from the highest FE sires available in NZ!