RB Sellars was born in the dusty yards of country Victoria 30 years ago, so it’s only fitting that we road test our Heritage Collection on the crew from LAMBPRO — Australia’s largest prime-lamb seedstock business — based outside Holbrook in southern New South Wales.
It’s late afternoon at ‘Sonning’, part of LAMBPRO’s Holbrook aggregation, and the yards are in full motion. The crew has mustered more than 800 Primeline ewes from different mobs, boxing them up ready to be joined in a week’s time.
“There’s a lot of genetic innovation going on here,” explains breeding manager Phoebe Yabsley as she works the drafting gate with kelpie Belle beside her. “We’re developing new breeds with better fertility and improved meat quality.”
LAMBPRO sells on average 3,000 rams a year and is one of the country’s most influential prime lamb seedstock operations. It’s staffed almost exclusively by women in their twenties.
“We’re a very young, enthusiastic, hardworking group of people with a passion for the sheep and red meat industry,” Phoebe says, keen to stress that there’s no hierarchy in the yards, regardless of anyone’s title.
That’s evident in the way they work. Someone steps in without being asked. Someone else sprints for a gate when things turn pear-shaped and sheep scatter — but no one loses their cool.
The culture on the ground matters just as much as the breeding decisions made behind the scenes. “Everyone digs deep, gets everything done,”
Phoebe says. “And no one leaves anyone behind.”
The vast operation is fuelled by data — from fertility and growth performance to meat quality and genetic information. Gathering it correctly is crucial, according to Phoebe. “It’s a very slow, calm process that really suits young women,” she says. “And it truly drives the business and allows us to provide the best genetics to our clients.”
During five months of the year, it’s the job of Millie Henrickson to scour the paddocks for freshly-dropped lambs in order to tag them — rain, hail or shine. The work couldn’t be any more different to her life at home in Rose Bay. “My Sydney friends are very confused by what I do,” she laughs.
“They ask lots of silly questions, but it’s good informing and educating them.”
It’s been a dry couple of years in these parts and dust hangs over the yards. “We had a late autumn break then the tap turned off,” says Jack Herriot. He’s the farming manager who’s most at home in a tractor, but lends a hand in the yards from time to time.
“Originally I wanted to be an agronomist but I just loved the livestock industry,” he says. Now he works somewhere between the two — though on days like this he admits he misses the safety of his cab, where he can keep the grit out of his eyes.
Even in seasons like this, the focus is firmly on the future. And Phoebe believes the next generation will shape it.
“There are incredible opportunities in the prime lamb industry,” she says. “We’re breeding lambs with meat that can match the quality of Wagyu. It’s an exciting time.”
30 Year Heritage Workshirts
