Ceres Farm
Mid-North Coopworth Company

Member N.Z. Ovine Sire Referencing Group
Facial Eczema Tolerance Testing Since 1984
Coopworth Ram Breeding Since 1975


Coopworths for Profit
Welcome to the Ceres Farm Website

The main purpose of the ram breeding undertaken at Ceres Farm (home of the Mid-North Coopworth Company or MNCC) is to optimise the profitability/survivability of sheep in the warmer regions of New Zealand, where the toxic fungus that causes Facial Eczema (FE) often severely suppresses productivity. After years of ram breeding in the Waikato and years of FE tolerance breeding, high fertility, together with good growth and fleece weights, have been achieved. MNCC rams are consistently ranked among the top Coopworth sires in New Zealand.

This website provides information about the Coopworth breeding program carried out on Ceres Farm, as well as general information regarding sheep farming in New Zealand. If you are interested in purchasing MNCC rams, or have any questions/comments, don't hesitate to .


NEWSFLASH: MNCC 140/09 chosen to represent Coopworth breed at the 2012 CPT trials at Poukawa 

Newsletter 35, September 2011 (PDF)

Ram Selection

Ram Breeding Details and Pricing 2011
2010 SIL Ram Selection List (Oct, 2010)
NZOSR Sire Summary (Feb, 2010)
SIL Indexes, Dual Purpose Overall Index
Ramguard
BLUP and SIL
Genetic Trends for the MNCC Flock
Gallery of present and past MNCC Sires

About Ceres Farm/MNCC

Aims and Expectations of MNCC
Location and Contact Details
History of Ceres Farm
NZ Ovine Sire Referencing Group (NZOSR)
NZ Coopworth Sheep Society

Animal Health

Internal Parasites
Introduction to Facial Eczema
Key Points in Control of Facial Eczema
Effect of Facial Eczema on Production
"Facing Up To Facial Eczema" Booklet
Fusarium
The Brucellosis Infection
Factors Contributing to Dagginess in Sheep
Options to Improve Ewe Performance
Pneumonia and Pleurisy in Lambs
Summer Sheep Feeding
Ram Breeding and Gene Modification

Sheep Breeding and Farming

Understanding Sheep
Selection for FE and Other Mycotoxins
Hogget Lambing
Pasture Quality and Alternative Feeding
Importance of Pasture Quality
Performance Recording
Ultrasound Scanning
Clover Root Weevil
Improving Lamb Survival And Growth Rates
Biotechnology/Genetic Engineering
Androvax and Hogget Mating
Management of Triplet Ewes (PDF)

Coopworth Ram MNCC 495/09: NZOSR Reference Sire 2012


Note: Some of the content on this website is in .pdf format which requires an external application to view. Adobe Reader is fine (freely available from the official Adobe website), however the current Windows version has now bloated to north of a 26 MB download (ver. 9.3, >3.5 hrs at typical rural modem speeds). If you don't have broadband internet, then I recommend as an alternative the 3.4 MB Foxit Reader (ver. 2.3, ~25 mins download) available for free from the Foxit website.


All original content ©2012 Ceres Farm Ltd. All rights reserved.