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The Rural Voice, 2006-07, Page 18CORNERSTONE TEXELS MAKE A DATE "TEXEL MANIA SUMMER SALE 2006" Saturday July 22nd, Sale Reception 12:00 noon Auction at 2:00 pm (note change of times) Consignments from across Canada including: 40-45 Texel Rams, 30 purebred Texel females, also 30 upgrade Texel females. On-line catalogue available at our website www.cornerstonegenetics.con masterfeeds TOP QUALITY COMMERCIAL RAMS - SOMETHING FOR EVERYBODY TEXEL STOCK ALWAYS AVAILABLE Steve & Janet Jones and Sons (519) 762 0613 or CELL (519) 859 2622 Web www.cornerstonegenetics.com Email info@cornerstonegenetics.com ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ E■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ We Care ... The littlest things are our biggest concern! Purina believes that the future success of your sheep enterprise depends on efficient lamb growth resulting in greater life time profitability. Feed your lambs and ewes the Purina program ... they never get over a good start! To find out more... give us a call today! AI•Mar Feed Centre Exeter 1-888-644-2844/519-235-1919 Bluewater Feed Company Ltd. Tara Desboro 519-934-3122 519-794-2327 Bridge Country Feeds Inc. Listowel 519-291-4040/1-866-483-7150 Milton J. Dietz Ltd. Seaforth 519-522-0608 Milverton Farm Supplies Inc. Milverton 519-595-2048 Springbank Farm Supply R.R. 3, Walkerton 519-881-4492/1-800-724-3850 •• Purina X PURINA®. the Checkerboard design and CHOWS® are licensed trademarks of Nestle Punna PelCare Company. ■■■■■■■ III ■■■■11.11 1111■ ■ ■■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■i 14 THE RURAL VOICE 1 1 1 1 1 she says, but as commercial flocks grew and farmers looked to make their living from selling lamb, selection priorities changed. One of the trends has been the growing influence of Rideau in maternal lines to increase prolificacy. Whereas Suffolk and Dorset' would have dominated the herds on test under the Sheep Flock Improvement Program 20 years ago, Rideau is in close competition today. There's been a lot of talk about the use of terminal sires but from her position dealing mostly with seed stock producers, Kennedy doesn't know how widespread the practice is. If you're growing your flock and want to keep your own stock, you're going to need separate groups for maternal and sire lines, she says. Both Jones and Atkinson think looking at terminal sires is an essential next step in creating a Canadian product that will increase in popularity, and both are fans of the meaty Texel breed. So is Jones's neighbour Stan Campbell who says it was Texel sheep that finally lured him into the business. He works 1800 acres with his father and brother where they finish 600 cattle a year and also keep pigs. He never really liked sheep, he says but he was visiting Jones one day and saw a Texel and it had more of the meaty characteristic he felt a sheep should have. Sheep were also attractive because he had a young family that he wanted to involve in the fanning operation but in this day and age of four-wheel- drive tractors, you don't send a young person out on a tractor like the days of a little grey Ford. Being around large cattle can also be dangerous. So he got sheep for this own family's farm and a business began. Today he has 250 commercial ewes and 60 purebred Texels and he has sold rams as far afield as Nova Scotia and New Brunswick in the east and Alberta in the west. He took part in the Ontario Sheep Marketing Agency's forward contracting program and his lambs led the index rating three years in a row. Using a Texel ram on a good ewe he produced 100 pound lambs in three months, he said.