Pure Suffolk lambs thriving in Bylong Valley

And with the breed's awesome maternal and carcase traits, he wouldn't be using anything else to produce excellent lamb.

Mr Woods runs 1500 pure Suffolk ewes, as well as his 270-head Angus herd, on his Bylong Valley property Wingarra, in the Central Tablelands of NSW.

He began running Suffolks when he had to restock after the 2002 drought. Before this he was running first-cross Merino ewes joined to Poll Dorset rams.

"I was frustrated with the fact that I had to sell one-and-half to two lambs to replace the dam," he said. "So I thought a maternal meat breed may be the solution."

He was able to buy 40 Suffolk ewes and a ram from a friend. And since that moment he hasn't looked back.

"I was so impressed with the growth rates of the lambs and the fertility of the ewes compared to my first-cross ewes," he said. "I continued to retain many of the ewe lambs each year and today, 20 years later, I solely run a pure Suffolk flock."

He said Suffolks had many awesome commercial traits.

"The plain head means they have no grass seed issues with their eyes," he said.

"Because they've got a black head they can eat weeds like St John's wort and grazing crops like brassica and they don't get affected by photosensitisation. The black feet are hardy and in the wettest year in history I have had minimal feet issues. The black colour of the newborn lambs doesn't appear to be a target of predators like eagles."

He said the Suffolk shape was a huge advantage.

"The narrow head and straight shoulder means they lamb easily and need minimal assistance with lambing. The bare breach means minimal crutching and no flystrike, and the downs wool dries quickly after rain and breathes, which results in rare bodystrike."

He said Suffolks also had excellent temperament, fertility and longevity.

"They're a placid breed, so they are good to handle."

The marbling and eating quality of the meat is a huge bonus of the breed. In fact, it is so good that in 2010 he started his own paddock to plate lamb business, which he operated for seven years, selling into Sydney and regularly attending the Orange and Mudgee markets.

"I constantly had people tell me you can't buy lamb like this," he said.

"One day a couple came up to my stall and the husband wanted to try my cutlets. His wife who was Scottish said she doesn't eat lamb because she could not stomach 'the lamby taste'.

"The next month she ordered enough for a month and said in all her years had never tasted anything like it. They became permanent customers."

He has been sourcing genetics from Bowen Suffolk stud, Millthorpe, since the beginning. "They've been taking me forward," he said.

Ewes are joined in the last week of February for five weeks, with lambing beginning at the end of July.

"I achieve 155 to 165 per cent pregnancy at scanning including empty ewes, which are sold. Suffolk ewes are excellent mothers, produce a good amount of colostrum and are good milkers with smaller productive udders and teats."

He joins his ewe lambs in the third week of April for five weeks to start lambing in mid-September.

"I have them from 45kg to 60kg by then and they are old enough to reach puberty. I have found that good growth rates and positive fat is essential for early maturity and puberty," he said. "I consistently scan over 80pc conception with these ewe lambs, and this year achieved 86pc with 97pc lambs, which was 10pc twins."

When it comes to choosing rams, conformation and function are crucial, and he relies on Australian Sheep Breeding Values to help select the right sires.

"I have no lambing issues, but I am mindful of pushing birthweight averages too far and try to keep around average while pushing growth rates and carcase traits."

Mr Woods has now sent 1000 Suffolk lambs to Gundagai Meat Processors, where each carcase is measured and he is supplied with the data the same day.

"I feel that the future is in a premium product, and if you have the breed and genetics you will be financially rewarded," he said.

"I'm in the top 25pc of producers for intramuscular fat and lean meat yield (LMY). This is very pleasing, as I haven't been focusing on these traits from a genetic perspective, as I believed it was already there in the breed. With ram selection, I will be able to improve on that further."