AUSTRALIA'S fortunes once rode on a sheep's back.

But with the size of the national flock at an 80-year-low things have changed.

Success now swings on a ewe's teat for a pioneering cheesemaking couple in Tasmania.

Seachangers Alan Irish and Diane Rae recognised that a lack of a dairy sheep suitable for the Australian climate was holding back the industry.

Now the former lawyer and financial planner from Brisbane say they are on the verge of a farming breakthrough with a new breed.

"This could be a really good thing for the sheep dairy industry," Mr Irish said.

"It could be the start of a brand new industry, it could be really big."

The couple have been making sheep-milk cheeses, yoghurt and gelato at their Grandvewe dairy, near Birchs Bay, 40km south of Hobart, since 2001.

They've introduced an especially hardy but rare Israeli milking breed, the Awassi, to a delicate milk sheep originating from Holland, the East Friesland.

"The aim is to produce an animal that is sturdier, a more efficient feeding machine, or metaboliser, so they can live, survive, put on weight and make milk on less food," Mr Irish said.

"We also want a good milk supply and hopefully have twins rather than single lambs when they birth.

"From our perspective it will be a 200 or 300 per cent improvement."

This month Grandvewe's first mob of 50 designer ewes will come into milk production after throwing their first lambs.

Israel and Spain are the only other countries combining these breeds.

The Awassi is a thistle-eating survivor, bred to thrive in Israel's harsh conditions.

It can store fat in its tail for lean times and eats just about anything.

The East Friesland is a fragile, sickly breed with weak lungs but regularly throws two or three lambs at a time and is a prolific producer of a high-quality milk.

The couple moved to Birchs Bay without any preconceived idea about what they would do to occupy themselves.

They used a $100,000 new agriculture industries grant from the federal government to set up the dairy.

A $25,000 Churchill Fellowship research grant allowed them to develop the new breed.

The breed will be finetuned over coming generations to best suit Australian conditions.


AAP