Feature on the Netherlands Sires used for 2010 AI

These rams are all part the of 2004 Clun Forest semen import from the Netherlands. The Netherlands rams are from Maedi-Visna certified flocks, are scrapie genotype ARR/ARR, and all are twin born. Gerard Scholtes of the Damburgh flock in the Netherlands worked with us on the selection and coordinated the import on that end and I handled the import details on the U.S. side. I worked on the selection with 3 other breeders and we selected the four rams who could best contribute to the North American gene pool based on pedigree, birth type, prolificacy index, production data, and show results.

SAN 125 is a REPEAT ram for our flock and was used successfully here in 2004 and 2005. Five ewes were bred to him this time around including his ROM daughter (Prairie R1), 2 grand-daughters, and 2 unrelated ewes.
Ram SAN 125 Owner: Budding, Breeder: van der Schaaf
His pedigree is heavy with Laidlaw and Babraham blood on the sire side. This ram was bred by Mr. Van der Schaaf who retired for health reasons but had a highly regarded flock. Gerard Scholtes believed this ram would make a good contribution to our gene pool. SAN 125 was the champion yearling ram at the 2003 National Show.

Six ewes were planned and bred to ram TBV 071 including 3 ROM ewes.
Ram TBV 071 Owner: Hameeteman, Breeder: van der Toorn
His pedigree goes back to Laidlaw and Babraham breeding on both sides. His sire, SBN 131, won many prizes in their shows. The breeder considers this ram’s dam his best performing ewe. Gerard selected this ram because it was a good ram with excellent parents and when Gerard took part in the annual inspection he was quite impressed with TBV 071’s offspring.


One lone ewe was bred to OWE 227 by AI this past fall. He was not planned to be bred to this year but his number and straw came up and was thawed so it was used. One good ram lamb "Prairie Loner"--twin born by request!
Ram OWE 227 Owner: Steenbeck, Breeder: Ogink
His pedigree also goes back to Laidlaw and Babraham breeding on the sire side and Babraham breeding on the dam’s side. His sire, SN 052, was champion ram in several shows in 1998 and 1999. Gerard selected this ram because he produced some nice lambs and based on his sire’s performance.