Norwood White Dorpers at Bundarra hosted a visit from  Zhijun Tang, chief executive officer and director of Xinjiang Herui Livestock Limited Company in Xinjiang, China and Dr Yuandan Zhang from AGBU (Animal Genetics and Breeding Unit) at the University of New England in Armidale.

The Chinese visit to Norwood White Dorpers gave the owners of the stud, Marlene and David Lawton, the opportunity to learn more about one of Australia's trading partners and the sheep industry in the Xinjiang region of China.

The visit was one of several to local studs to assess stud rams and ewes across many breeds which Xinjiang Herui Livestock are planning to import for use in their breeding program in Northern China, which focuses on indoor prime lamb production.

Mr Tang made the observation that the breeding systems and rate of genetic improvement in the Australian sheep industry are impressive, particularly in regards to advanced breeding programs, genetic evaluation software, and phenotype record collection. 

“These approaches ascertain the quality delivery of the breeding system for stud producers,” Mr Tang said. 

“The pure breeds (Dorper, White Suffolk and Poll Dorset etc) are visually very uniform with sound frame and muscling appearance. The quality and quantity of stud rams and ewes are also very impressive.”

Zhijun also said the crossbreeding system in Australian prime lamb production is well tested and efficient. He is planning to apply a similar system in his production in Xinjiang.

He also expressed his interest in further developing good relationships with Australian sheep breeders and the sheep livestock industry.