Texel Society welcomes Paraguayan interest

Society chief executive John Yates said the Paraguayan interest built on the breed’s success in other South American countries, including Brazil, Chile and Mexico where British genetics have already been used to great benefit.

“British Texels have proven themselves highly adaptable to a wide variety of environmental conditions and farming systems across the globe, with the breed’s abililty to add value to its offspring sought after by many overseas breeders.

“Breeders across the world continue to seek out the best sheep genetics able to produce high quality, high value lean meat in forage-based systems. The Texel breed is well suited to this and has evolved within the UK to become the country’s leading terminal sire breed and also an important maternal breed too,” he explained.

Mr Yates said the continued work of UK Texel breeders to ensure the breed remained relevant for modern commercial farming systems meant the breed was eagerly sought after, both domestically and internationally.

“Texel breeders have committed nearly 50 years to breed development, including the use of performance recording. This has lead to the breed being in the position it is today and is the envy of many other breeds across the UK.

He added that discussions with representatives from the Asociación de Criadores de Texel del Paraguay and Asociación Paraguaya de Criadores de Ovinos (APCO) were extremely positive and it’s clear there are many shared ambitions among sheep breeders the world over.

“The Society looks forward to helping facilitate further discussions with the Paraguayans and to seeing British Texel genetics delivered to Paraguayan breeders in due course,” said Mr Yates.