At the depth of the early 1970s wool recession, Mrs Margaret Black (nee Sims) and her family, former owners of Yanga Station (85,000 ha) from 1919 to 2005, purchased Uardry in 1973. Incidentally the Sims-Black family were former owners of Cobran (1920s to c. 1976) and Wyvern (1920s to c.1948).
Encountering floods and bush fires that burnt approximately two-thirds of Uardry later in the 1970's, Mrs Black and her family stood firm and set about restoring Uardry to its former glory.
The Black family have showed their commitment to Uardry by renovating the historic homestead in the 1980s, purchasing the adjacent Arundel in 1988 and establishing the separate Sims Uardry stud in 1998. In 2000, the family’s commitment was demonstrated once again, by importing about 500 Dohne Merino embryos from South Africa, from nine top Dohne studs for the establishment of the Uardry Dohne Stud.
As of December 2007, Ben was appointed Stud Manager of Uardry. His dedication and commitment to Uardry and the Merino industry was apparent when he returned to Uardry as Manager of Livestock Operations in February 2006.
Ben trained as a jackaroo at Uardry in the 1990s, then became Overseer at the Koonwarra stud in 2000 and completed his Diploma in Agribusiness at Marcus Oldham College before returning to Koonwarra as Stud Manager in 2003.
Ian commenced classing the Uardry stud in 1995. He followed the success of his late father, Tom Lilburne, as Uardry Stud Classer. Ian’s most notable achievement at Uardry was his contribution in the establishment of the successful Sims Uardry stud in 1998. In July 2011, Ian became classer of the Sims Uardry Poll Stud.
Ian is an integral member of the Uardry team. His experience and forsight in breeding the “Modern Merino” will ensure the future success of Uardry in the Merino industry.
In July 2011, Stuart Hodgson (OAM), was appointed as Stud Classer of the Uardry and Sims Uardry Merino studs.
Stuart’s association with Uardry extends more than 15 years. Since joining Landmark in 1995 he has supported Uardry at shows, field days and ram sales in which he has purchased many rams and genetics for stud and commercial clients both in Australia and overseas. Stuart’s philosophy on sheep breeding compliments Uardry’s breeding objectives to produce a modern, well balanced, free growing Merino. Stuart’s excellent reputation and dedication to the Australian Merino industry was recognised when awarded an Order of Australia Medal in 2005 for service to the Merino sheep industry through stud flock management and improvement.
On completion of a Degree in Agriculture from Wagga Wagga Agricultural College in 1992, Jason gained valuable experience working on such properties as Mungadal and Hazeldean.
Jason’s involvement with Uardry commenced in 2004 when he was employed by the then stud manager Chris Bowman.
In 2003 he was one of four people in Eastern Australia selected as a Dohne assessor by the Australian Dohne Breeder’s association to uphold the standards of the breed. The following year he commenced work with McMichael & Associates, a farm advisory company managing properties throughout eastern Australia.
Jason has a real passion for agriculture with a focus on breeding sheep that are profitable by combining objective and visual classing methods. His goal is to produce a highly profitable true dual purpose animal that has exceptional wool, growth rates and fertility combined with industry leading performance figures.
Bill has considerable experience in breeding both Merino and Dohne sheep. For over 20 years he has classed some of the largest sheep properties in Queensland and Victoria, and worked under the guidance of top stud masters from renowned Parent Studs such as Wonga, Boonoke, Haddon Rig and White River. During this time he was also an Elders stud sheep representative for Eastern Australia.
In 2001, Bill commenced his position as Uardry Stud Representative. In addition to his services at Uardry, he continues to class and advise Merino and Dohne studs and flocks from all areas of eastern Australia and South Australia.
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