Gippsland family exports rare Cheviots 10,000km to India in world first

Grand Ridge and Seaview Cheviots

Pictures by Barry Murphy

A Gippsland family has exported Cheviot sheep to India in a world first, a move which might help revive the rare breed's numbers in Australia.

Grand Ridge and Seaview Cheviot studs are run alongside each other by Rob Waddell, Seaview, his daughter Felicity and son Fletcher.

Rob set up Grand Ridge in 1986, and his children founded Seaview in 2014.

Together, they run close to 100 Cheviot ewes, and are one of just four remaining stud properties breeding the sheep.

Two studs near Warrnambool and another near Wagga Wagga, NSW, hold about 300 ewes, meaning there are just 400 purebreds left in the country.

Cheviot imports from the 1800s died out before the turn of the 20th century, but another 1938 importation kicked the breed off again in Australia about 90 years ago.

However, with such small numbers left of the breed again, the Waddells are one of the few families fighting for the sheep's survival.

A random email and flight halfway across the world could just save the unusual-looking sheep, originally from the Cheviot Hills, which straddle the Scottish and English border.

In February, Grand Ridge and Seaview exported nine September 2024-drop, Cheviot lambs to India (three rams and six ewes).

"It came about through a random email almost two years ago now," Rob said.

A sheep breeder from the Kashmir region in India, near the Pakistan border, contacted the studs looking to import some of their top stock.

Rob said the Cheviot was of interest to the region, which predominantly runs traditional local breeds alongside some Merinos and Corriedales, for its hardiness in extreme conditions.

The Kashmir region sees snow and temperatures below 0 degrees in winter and then heatwaves above 30 degrees in summer.

"It's probably a little bit harsher than here," Rob said.

"They're looking to put a bit more hardiness into the local breeds so they can run them a bit better.

"There seems to be a huge amount of demand over there."

The nine lambs were first quarantined in Australia for 30 days before being flown directly to Delhi, quarantined for another 30 days, and then on to Kashmir via truck.

Rob said the small Cheviot foundation flock had landed safely and the young sheep were now thriving in their new home, approximately 10,000 kilometres from Seaview's green hills.

The new Kashmir client of the stud has been so impressed by the lambs' performance so far that further exports are in the works.

This could see 60-90 Cheviot sheep make the trip over the next couple of years.

"We're looking to do another run in 2026, that could be anywhere up to 10 times that amount," Rob said.

He said the family were very proud to be able to help set up the Cheviot breed in another country and suggested Australia's clean animal health status had a major role.

"I think it's the clean health status that we've got in Australia, the lack of diseases," he said.

"They're sourcing other breeds as well as the Cheviots, but the Cheviots are sort of the standout ones because the other ones are more mainstream commercial breeds.

"With the Cheviots, there's only so many people they can get them from in the world, and we're it."

Rob said the Kashmir farmers couldn't get Cheviots out of the UK because of concerns around blue tongue, scrapie and foot and mouth disease.

"They can't even get them out of New Zealand," he said.

"Australia is the only source."

Rob said while the developing Indian premium market was great to have, the Waddells would continue to work to improve the genetics of their own flock.

"If we can take advantage of that premium market, we definitely will," he said.

"We'll try not to sell the stud so to speak and make sure the breed is still in good shape [here]."

However, the export route and the revenue made from it could help bolster the Cheviot's survival.

Maintaining genetic diversity in such a small national flock can be tricky, and it is something the Waddells are working hard on.

This year, they had six bloodlines in their joining period, with small mobs of ewes joined to specific rams.

"You don't just want genetics, you want good genetics," Rob said.

The studs used imported NZ semen last year and hoped to invest more to expand this in the years ahead.

"Especially if we use the cash flow from the Indian stock, that might give us the opportunity to future-proof the breed for the next 15-20 years [in Australia], which would be good," he said.

Future proofing the breed was really important, according to Felicity, who said the industry couldn't afford to lose the breed's genetics.

She said the sheep were well-suited to the high-rainfall Gippsland climate, something which could not be said for many of Australia's breeds.

"They're low maintenance, really easy lambers, a really nice sheep in general," she said.

"There are a lot of sheep breeds that we probably can't have because of the wet climate we have."

Rob said the ewes lambed themselves, with almost no issues.

He said the Cheviot's feet were black and "rock solid", and they never had to have their feet pared or trimmed.

"We've got a lot of traits that are bred into the breed very, very strongly," he said.

"We guard those with a passion."