AUSTRALIA'S Merino industry conjures up pictures of majestic rams with stately heads adorned with massive, curling horns.
Cut to 2010, and that picture might well have to be altered to show a polled head.
It will probably have the traditionalists shaking their heads, but the facts speak for themselves.
When flock registrations closed with the Australian Association of Stud Merino Breeders last year, there were more new Poll Merino flocks than horned Merinos.
And while overall registrations fell for both the horned and polled Merinos, the slide was more dramatic for the former, with 88 studs falling by the wayside compared to just 18 Poll Merino studs lapsing.
So what is going on?
Talking to breeders, commercial and stud alike, it seems the Poll Merino fits what the commercial producers want at the moment.
Part of this is the growing acceptance of the pure Merino as a legitimate player in the prime lamb industry.
No longer a "fill-in" or a dirt-cheap alternative for processors, Merinos, both horned and poll, can consistently make good returns as a prime lamb sold in the market place.
But where Poll Merinos fit into that picture is that they are "meat friendly" according to Phil Toland.
Phil, a Merino breeder from Violet Town, has a foot in each camp - a Merino stud and a Poll Merino stud - with more and more of his operation going to the polls. He admits there is a lot he likes about Poll Merinos, but he's not bloody minded about it.
He is responding to client demand for his polled rams, and he is gradually phasing out his horned Merino sheep in response.
"Because the Poll Merino lambs have no horns, there are no nicks or bruises- the polls (Merinos) are meat friendly," he said.
Mr Toland said commercial producers a decade ago might have bought a poll ram if they couldn't afford a good horned one. This situation had now reversed, and his Poll Merino progeny now averaged more than his horned Merino rams.
Fellow breeder Rob Asby from Old Ashrose is unashamedly from the Poll Merino homeland of South Australia, but even there, more and more stud breeders are switching to polls.
"In South Australia, there is an increasing number of breeders cancelling their Merino registrations and concentrating on their Poll Merinos," he said. "And if they keep their horned Merinos, they are mating less and less of their ewes (to horned Merinos) and more and more to polls".
He predicts that within a decade, few sheep will be mated to horned Merinos. It's a bold statement, but it reflects the confidence Poll Merino breeders are feeling and the feedback they are receiving.
What commercial producers need, and what they are looking for, is a breed of sheep that can maximise their returns. This means making the highest possible price for their sale of sheep and wool, with the lowest amount of inputs.
Some Poll Merino breeders claim the progeny of their rams are earlier maturing, though independent studies are obviously needed for this to become their catchcry. However, what cannot be denied is that Poll Merinos offer some management advantages in the handling and running of the sires, as well as the progeny.
