Ever since its early years, Stellenbosch University's Terra Vino Dohne Merino stud has enjoyed the invaluable support of the South African Dohne Merino stud farming community. The stud – the only one of its kind linked to a South African university – was in fact started in the 1970s thanks to the goodwill of breeders, says John Morris, farm manager of Mariendahl Experimental Farms.

Mariendahl is one of the SU Faculty of AgriScience's two experimental farms, and is situated outside Stellenbosch.

In Morris's office, he still keeps the waybills of the first Dohne Merino sheep brought by train from the Stutterheim district in the Eastern Cape to Stellenbosch. Between 1973 and 1975, 81 ewes, of which most were pregnant, were donated to the University by 22 farmers. The stud could thus be established with a broad genetic base. Under leadership of Dr Jasper Coetzee, the Terra Vino stud was registered with the Dohne Merino Breed Society of South Africa in 1974, and is therefore considered to be one of the oldest studs of its kind in the country.

Last year the Terra Vino Stud received the BKB Award in the Western Cape's Region Four. At the 2017 National Auction it ranked fifth among the top selling studs. Its rams went for R22 667 on average.

The stud is respected for the hardiness and adaptability of the animals as well as lambing percentage of up to 166 %.

"We breed hardy sheep, and have selected for fertility over the past 40 years," reveals Morris, who has overseen the stud for the past 30 years. Three full-time staff members – Manuel Adams, Leonard Minnaar and Dino Adams – assist Morris.

The continued cooperation and partnerships with other breeders across the country have made it possible for the University over the years to obtain some of the best breeding stock possible. In February this year, for example, SU obtained a quarter share in Ram JW150558, along with the Free State stud Crux Dohnes. The R220 000 paid for this prize ram is the most paid to date at a national auction, and is double what was paid for 2016's top seller.

Mariendahl is also the regular venue for one of two important annual three-day workshops presented by the Dohne Merino Breeders Association. The event, which is attended by up to 60 students and aspiring breeders, takes place from 7 to 9 June 2017.

SU's 41st annual Production Auction will again take place on Thursday 20 July 2017 at the auction facilities based at the neighbouring Elsenburg Agricultural Development Institute. At the auction, 60 Dohne Merino rams and 20 South African Mutton Merino rams selected and bred on the Mariendahl Experimental Farm will be offered for sale. .

For the past 40 years, the auction has been on the BKB auction calendar on the second Wednesday of July. This year, for the first time it will take place on a Thursday.

Busy experimental farm

The experimental farm lies on 300 hectares of government land adjacent to Elsenburg, about 16 km outside of Stellenbosch. In addition to 450 Dohne Merino ewes and 150 SA Mutton Merino ewes, the farm also maintains a herd of 55 Simmentaler cattle, pigs and poultry. On an ordinary day, there are 125 sows and a thousand young pigs on the terrain.

Ten full-time staff work on the farm. Morris has been part of the operation for the past 30 years, after beginning his career on the farm as part of the then Division of Sheep and Wool Science of the Department of Animal Science in January 1987.

In addition to the commercial stock farming activities on the farm, it also offers important training and research opportunities for researchers and students of the SU Department of Animal Sciences. Undergraduate students in Animal Sciences have been coming here since the founding years of the farm, in 1974, to do holiday work as part of their practical modules, among other things.

The facilities are also used by researchers of the Cape Peninsula University of Technology, Elsenburg Agricultural College and the University of Cape Town.

In addition to the agricultural-related activities, Mariendahl also houses a testing station for two renewable energy projects by Matie engineers, while it also boasts a small experimental plantation of blue gums studied by the SU Department of Forest and Wood Science.