New owners for prominent Tammin stud as part five-year transition

One of Western Australia's most prominent Wheatbelt Merino studs has new owners.

The Kamballie Merino and Poll Merino stud founded by the Mackin family at Tammin was recently purchased by Brendan and Prue Maher, Rockdale Valley stud, Muntadgin.

A five-year partnership is underway between the two families to ensure a smooth transition for existing and prospective clients while they work collaboratively to continue improving their product.

The sale consisted of 1200 stud Poll Merino and Merino ewes, 350 stud ewe hoggets (2024-drop), 12 stud sires and stored semen.

The Poll Merino stud will retain the Kamballie prefix and largely remain at Tammin where 600 AI stud Poll ewes will be DNA tested and managed by the Mackin family, while Kamballie's Merino stud will move to Muntadgin and merge with the Rockdale Valley prefix.

All sale rams will be managed by the Mackins until ram sale day which will still be held at Kamballie.

An extensive breeding program has already taken place and in addition to the 600 AI Poll ewes, 300 Merino ewes were AI'd and 36 Merino and Poll Merino ewes flushed for an ET program.

The Kamballie Merino stud was founded by Frank Mackin in 1948 based on East Bungaree bloodlines, while the Poll Merino stud was registered in 1997 starting from a Claypans base.

Frank's sons Francis and Gerald Mackin eventually took over stud operations with current stud principal Shayne Mackin returning to the farm in 1979 and running the stud with his uncle Gerald for the next 20 years before Gerald's retirement.

For the past 25 years Shayne has grown Kamballie with wife Lisa and sons Curtis and Ash.

They expanded their stud numbers with the acquisition of the entire Nanyanine Merino stud from the Leake family, Kellerberrin, purchased a third of the Butcher family's Hurstdene Poll Merino stud, Mukinbudin and the three top lines of Cardiff Merino ewes at the Yorkrakine stud's dispersal last year.

As Kamballie and its client base grew, the Mackins significantly invested in sires which took the stud's breeding to a new level.

Some of the more recent sire purchases include a two-thirds share in Rhamily Benny which sold for $15,500 in 2012 and has been used extensively in Poll Merino studs throughout the country, a half share in Poll Boonoke Bobcat which sold for $70,000 in 2019, Glenlea Park Crippa in partnership for $32,000 in 2022 and East Mundalla Big Cohuna in partnership with Rockdale Valley stud for $25,000 in August this year.

Shayne Mackin said they weren't looking to sell Kamballie but saw the proposal as a good opportunity to keep improving the stud by pooling knowledge and resources with little to no change for their clients.

"I'm genuinely excited to take Kamballie to the next level over the next few years with Brendan and his passion for the industry," Mr Mackin said.

"I think it's going to be an attractive proposition for existing and potential clients having Rockdale and Kamballie together and we have a responsibility to keep improving and produce around 200 good quality rams for the sale."

Mr Mackin said it wasn't the end of an era for them.

"Curtis and I and Mitchell Crosby, who has been a big part of the stud's growth, are still actively involved with the Kamballie stud and the clients and we are excited to build on what we've built," he said.

"I still have the passion to keep the quality right for the clients; I really enjoy the one on one interaction with the clients and growing the stud with them.

"There is no doubt our growth came from the relationship we built with the clients and wanting to improve their flocks as much as your own and I look forward to continuing this.

"Thanks to the clients, we've had some good ram sales which helped us strongly reinvest back into the stud which Brendan also does well."

The Rockdale Valley Merino and Poll Merino stud was founded in 2020 by Brendan and Prue Maher based on Wanjalonar, Narbethong and Quailerup West bloodlines and Wanjalonar, Eastville Park and East Mundalla bloodlines respectively.

The Mahers are also no strangers to investing significantly in genetics for their young stud.

In addition to East Mundalla Big Cohuna for $25,000, some of the Rockdale Valley's recent sire acquisitions include $30,000 for Poll Merino ram Collinsville Trump and a semen share in a $20,000 Eastville Park Poll ram earlier this year and in 2023 they paid $20,000 for a Greenfields Poll ram privately and $12,000 for a Quailerup West Merino ram.

Mr Maher said purchasing Kamballie was an investment in the future and while it's a fresh look, it's a partnership with the Mackins and will be largely business as usual for them and the clients.

"Kamballie is an established stud that has a great clientele, many I'm familiar with, and I thought it was a good opportunity for myself and Prue to have an off-farm investment outside of the Rockdale brand," Mr Maher said.

"Shayne, Curtis and I work well together and nothing changes for the clients and hopefully the Mackins can stay on for many years to come and we can keep building the business together.

"I believe the sheep industry will rebound from its trough and whoever can stay true to the course will be rewarded in the long run."

Mr Maher said they would be investing effort and resources into both the Merino and Poll Merino studs going forward.

"We will have a renewed focus on the Rockdale Valley Merinos, there isn't a lot of emphasis on horned Merinos at the moment and with Shayne's guidance, I believe there is a market for horned rams," he said.

"We have made a big investment in sires the past couple of years, we are putting our money where our mouth is and in the future we want to be breeding our product and stand behind it."

The sale of the stud was negotiated with the assistance of Nutrien Livestock Breeding representative and Kamballie stud classer, Mitchell Crosby, who said moving forward he could see the Mahers and Mackins working well together.

"I've been working with the Mackins for the past 15 years and Shayne's passion for the sheep industry and servicing his clients is second to none, the clients always come first," Mr Crosby said.

"Shayne's eye for detail in what he was breeding focused strongly on the commercial aspect of the stud which created the top-end to come through.

"Kamballie has sold rams to Victoria, New South Wales and South Australia and about 15 WA studs over the past 10 years which reflects the quality of the product.

"The Mackins have always reinvested back into the stud using top sires and AI and ET which will continue under the new ownership."