Merino

This article is about the breed of sheep. For the town in Victoria, Australia, see Merino, Victoria.

Full wool merino sheep.

The Merino is the most numerous breed of sheep in the world, prized for its wool. Super fine merinos are regarded as having the finest and softest wool of any sheep. Recently the low price of wool has led to more emphasis on the market and sale of the animal's meat. Poll merinos have no horns (or very small stubs, known as scurs), and horned merinos have long, spiral horns which grow close to the head.

Etymology

There are two proposed origins for the Spanish word:

• Merino may be an adaptation to the sheep of the name of a Castilian official inspector (merino) over a merindad, who may have also inspected sheep pastures. This word is from the medieval Latin majorinus, a steward or head official of a village, from major, meaning great.
• Merino may from the name of a Berber tribe, the Marini (or in Castilian, Benimerines), which intervened in the Iberian peninsula during the 12th and 13th centuries.

Characteristics

File:Merino penned for shearing.jpg

Merinos penned for shearing Lismore, Victoria

The merino is an excellent grazer and very adaptable. It is bred predominantly for its wool, and its carcase size is generally smaller than that of sheep bred for meat. The South African mutton merino and merinofleischschaf have been bred to balance wool production and carcase quality.

Merino wool is tightly crimped and springy. Staples are commonly 2.5–4 inches (65–100 mm)long. A Saxon merino produces 3 to 6 kg of greasy wool a year while a good quality Peppin merino ram produces up to 18 kg. Merino wool is generally less than 24.5 micrometres (microns, µm) in diameter. Medium merino wool is 20.6-22.5 µm, fine medium 19.6-20.5 µm, fine 18.6-19.5 µm, superfine 17.6-18.5 and ultra fine 12 to 16.9. Ultra fine wool is suitable for blending with other exclusive fibres such as silk and cashmere.

The term merino is widely used in the textile industries with very varied meanings. Originally it denoted the wool of Merino sheep reared in Spain, but due to the superiority of Australian and New Zealand wools the term now has broader use. In the dress-goods and knitting trades the term "Merino" still implies an article made from the very best soft wool.

Regions of merino husbandry

In Argentina, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa and the western United States where sheep are bred for their wool rather than their mutton, merino sheep dominate. In Australia, the merinos are crossed with Border Leicesters and other English long wool breeds to produce first cross prime lamb mothers and prime lamb wethers. The prime lamb mothers are crossed again with Poll Dorsets and other short wool breeds and the resultant second cross lambs slaughtered as prime lambs .

History

The Merino is a productive animal developed by man. The genetic history of the Merino is not a linear history of a gene pool selected over time for superior wool or fleece weights, but a history of outcrossing and the selection of material that is productive in the local environment. It is a history where genetic material from one era in the breed's development becomes the foundation material for further development in another era.

Champion Merino ram, 1905 Sydney Sheep Show

The Phoenicians introduced sheep from Asia Minor into North Africa, and the foundation flocks might have been introduced into Spain as late as the 12th century by the Beni-Merines, a tribe of Arabic Moors. In the 13 and 14 century genetic material from England was introduced , this influence was openly documented by Spanish writers at the time.

Spain became noted for its fine wool (spinning count between 60s and 64s) and built up a fine wool monopoly during the 12th and 16th century, with wool commerce to Flanders and England being a source of income for Castile in the Late Middle Ages.

Most of the flocks known as cabanas or cavanas were owned by nobility or the church; the sheep grazed the Spanish southern plains in winter and the northern highlands in summer. The Mesta was an organisation of privileged sheep owners who developed the breed and controlled the migrations.

The three great studs that founded most of the world's merino flocks were the Royal Escurial flocks, the Negretti and the Paula. The infantado, Montarcos and Aguires studs had an influence on the Vermont bloodlines.

Before the 18th century the export of merinos from Spain was a crime punishable with death. In the 18th century a new era began, small exportation of merinos from Spain and local sheep were used as the foundation of merino flocks in other countries. In 1723 some were exported to Sweden, but the first major consignment of Escurials was sent by Ferdinand VI of Spain to his cousin, Prince Xavier the Elector of Saxony, in 1765. Further exportation of Escurials to Saxony occurred in 1774, to Hungry in 1775 and to Prussia in 1786. Later in 1786 Louis XVI of France received 366 sheep selected from 10 different cavanas, these founded the stud at the Royal Farm at Rambouillet. The Rambouillet stud enjoyed some 'undisclosed' genetic development with some English long-wool genes contributing to the size and wool-type of the French sheep. Though Emperor the Rambouillet stud had an enormous influence on the development of the Australian Merino.

Sir Joseph Banks procured two rams and four ewes in 1787 by way of Portugal and in 1792 purchased 40 Negrettis for King George III, to found the royal flock at Kew. In 1808, 2000 Paulas were imported.

The King of Spain also gave some Escurials to the Dutch government in 1790; these thrived in the Dutch Cape Colony (South Africa). In 1797 Governor King, Colonel Patterson, Captain Waterhouse and Kent purchased sheep from the widow of Colonel Gordon, commander of the Dutch garrison in Cape Town. When Waterhouse landed in Sydney he sold his sheep to Captain John MacArthur, Samuel Marsden and Captain William Cox.

In 1804 John Macarthur (who had been sent back from Australia to England following a duel with Colonel Patterson) brought seven rams and one ewe from the first dispersal sale of King George III stud. In 1805 Macarthur and the sheep returned to Australia, Macarthur to reunite with his wife Elizabeth who had been developing their flock in his absence. Macarthur is considered the father of the Australian merino industry however in the long term his sheep had very little influence on the development of the Australian merino.

From 1765 the Germans in Saxony crossed the Spanish Merino with the Saxon sheep to developed a dense, fine type of Merino (spinning count between 70s and 80s) adapted to its new environment. By 1802 the region had four million Saxon Merino sheep, and was becoming the centre for stud Merino breeding, and German wool was the finest in the world.

In 1802, Colonel David Humphreys, United States Ambassador to Spain, initiated the Vermont strain into North America with an importation of 21 rams and 70 ewes from Portugal and a further importation of 100 infantado Merinos in 1808. The British embargo on wool and wool clothing exports to the U.S. prior to the 1812 British/U.S. war led to a "Merino Craze" with William Jarvis of the Diplomatic Corps importing at least 3500 sheep between 1809 to 1811 through Portugal.

The Napoleonic wars (1793-1813) almost destroyed the Spanish merino industry. The old cavanas were dispersed or slaughtered. From 1810 onwards the merino scene shifted to Germany, the United States and Australia. Between 1810 and 1840 Australia was engaged in a wool trade war with Germany while importing German sheep. By 1840 Australia had won the war mainly because of Germany's preoccupation with fineness.

By 1801 Australia had 33,818 sheep. Macarthur pioneered the introduction of Saxon merinos with importation from the Electoral flock in 1812. The first Australian wool boom occurred in 1813 when the Great Dividing Range was crossed. By 1830 the Australian sheep population was nearly 2 million. In 1823, at the first sheep show held in Australia, a gold medal was awarded to W. Riley ('Raby') for importing the most Saxons, W. Riley also imported Cashmere Goats into Australia.

In 1841, John Murray at Mt Crawford in South Australia established a flock of Camden-blood ewes mated to Tasmanian rams. To broaden the wool and give the animals some size it is thought some English Leicester blood was introduced. The resultant sheep were the foundation of many South Australian strong wool studs.

The Peppin brothers took a different approach to producing a hardier, longer stapled, broader wool sheep. After purchasing Wanganella Station in the Riverina they selected 200 station bred ewes that thrived under local conditions and purchased 100 South Australian ewes bred at Cannally that were sired by an imported Rambouillet ram. The Peppin brothers mainly used Saxon and Rambouillet rams importing four Rambouillet rams in 1860. One of these, 'Emperor,' cut an 11.4 kg (5.1Kg clean) fleece. They ran some Lincoln ewes but their introduction into the flock is undocumented.

In the 1880s, Vermont rams were imported into Australia from the U.S., since many Australian studmen believed these sheep would improve wool cuts, their use spread rapidly. Unfortunately the fleece weight was high but the clean yield low, the greater grease content increased the risk of fly strike, they had lower uneven wool quality, and lower lambing percentages. Their introduction had a devastating effect on many famous fine-wool studs.

Medium fine Merinos being shorn in Lismore, Victoria

In 1889, while Australian studs were being devastated by the imported Vermont rams several U.S. merino breeders formed the Rambouillet Association to prevent the destruction of the Rambouillet line in the U.S. It has been estimated that today 50 percent of the sheep on the U.S. western ranges are of Rambouillet blood.

The federation drought ( 1901-1903 ) reduced the number of Australian sheep from 72 to 53 million and ended the Vermont era with the Peppin and Murray blood strain becoming dominant in the pastoral and wheat zones of Australia.

In Australia today, a few Saxon fine wool merino studs exist in the high rainfall areas (17 micron to 20 micron), in the pastoral and Agriculture country Peppins and Collinsville (21 to 24 micron) are popular. In the drier areas one finds the Collinsville (21 to 24 micron) strains. The development of the merino is entering a new phase, objective fleece measurement and estimated breeding values are now being used to identify exceptional animals. Artificial insemination and embryo transfer is being used to accelerated the spread of their genes. The result is a wide out-crossing between all major strains.

Animal welfare developments

In Australia, mulesing of merino sheep is a common practice to reduce the incidence of flystrike. It has been attacked by animal rights and animal welfare activists, with PETA recently running a campaign against the practice. The PETA campaign targeted U.S. consumers by using graphic billboards in New York City. PETA threatened U.S. manufacturers with television advertisements showing their companies' support of mulesing. Fashion retailers Abercrombie & Fitch Co., Gap Inc and Nordstrom and George (UK) stopped stocking Merino wool products. New strains of merinos that don't require mulesing are being promoted in South Australia. 'Thin-skinned' sheep from western Victoria are also being promoted as a solution.

See also

• Booroola Merino, prolific merino strain
• Churro (sheep), another sheep race from Spain.
• Domestic sheep
• Guard Llama, llamas used as livestock guardians.
• Peppin Merino, dominant Australian merino strain
• Poll Merino
• Rambouillet (sheep)
• Sheep shearing
• Wool

References

• Cottle, D.J. (1991). Australian Sheep and Wool Handbook. Melbourne, Australia: Inkata Press. pp. 20–23. ISBN 0-909605-60-2.

External links

• Oklahoma State University - Merino reference page
• The American Delaine & Merino Record Association
• The American Rambouillet Sheep Breeders Association
• The Australian Association of Stud Merino Breeders
• New Zealand Merino Stud Breeders