Calga Genetics Thriving at La Cruz Stud Uruguay - Hernan Riccetto

La Cruz Stud -Hernan Riccetto  Uruguay

My name is Hernán Riccetto, I have a degree in Agricultural Management and I have worked in the family business for 7 years. Our farms are located in the south centre, and in the east of Uruguay, 125 km and 345 km from the capital of the country, respectively. My  farm located in the south centre and is where the sheep are bred. The farm has an average native grass production of 2.5 Ton per hectare per year.

GENERAL CHARACTERISTICS

The Uruguayan climate is humid subtropical, according to the Köppen-Geiger scale. The average annual temperature in the region where the farm is located is 16.9 ℃, with maximums in January of 23.7 ℃, and minimums in July of 10.7 ℃. Annual rainfall averages 1,271 mm per year, distributed in a uniform manner throughout the year, with maximums of 124 mm in March and minimums of 95 mm in December.

The  Uruguayan Merilín sheep breed is bred, a fine double purpose breed (3/4 Merino Ramboullete, 1/4 Lincoln), producing sheep 4.5kg of 23.5 micron wool, at a value of USD 6,8/kg dirty base, and heavy lambs of 40 kg with 11-13 months of age that are sold to the slaughterhouse at USD 3.5/kg carcass weight.

MERINO DOHNE

In 2016 I decided to start breeding Merino Dohne, after searching for a breed able to produce finer wool (accompanying the world demand for these fibres), without neglecting the skills of both beef and prolificacy. In this sense I formed a flock of my own, aiming to create a stud to produce superior quality rams for sale.

For this reason, l acquired P.I. ewes in the final auction of Tres Árboles Stud; and in another auction, M.O. ewes (With Tres Árboles Stud genetics).

In these two years I proved its rusticity in our climatic and edaphic conditions, maintaining a very good body condition throughout the year, even in conditions of prolonged periods of water excess. The breed possess an excellent maternal ability, sheep take care of their lambs at all times, and added to a very good milk production, they produce more vigorous lambs, diminishing the percentage of mortality. All this added to an unbeatable beef carcass and a very good production of fine wool.

The value sales of wool and heavy lamb meat are of USD 8.30/kg and USD 3.5/kg respectively.

CALGA

For the above mentioned reasons, is that at the end of 2016 I decided to incorporate Calga genetics to my flock through the importation of frozen semen, with the intention of obtaining a solid racial seal, carving structure, without detracting the outstanding wool attributes.

The results have been more than encouraging, so surely we will continue to incorporate this genetics into the flock.