Sheep breeder Phil Toland is not so much retired as switching jobs.
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“I’m more of a jackaroo these days,” he said with a smile, pointing out that he roams his daughter’s sheep stud, looking out for things that might need attending to.
“You know, those jobs that you never get around to doing.”
It’s a modest role for the man who was recently presented with a life membership of the Australian Merino Stud Breeders Association.
Mr Toland, now 74, has retired with his wife, Georgina, to a Violet Town house surrounded by native trees, backing onto the Honeysuckle Creek and with a small flock of Merinos to keep him grounded.
The Toland Poll Merino stud that Phillip built up after moving to Violet Town 28 years ago, is now capably managed by his daughter Anna, who is busy preparing for the annual stud sale on September 23.
The stud has almost 3000 breeding ewes (both stud and commercial) plus 2500 lambs on the ground.
Merino Association Victoria Committee member and Prairie farmer Ross McGauchie, said Mr Toland was an innovator who pushed to take the industry forward.
“He was always keen to promote genetic testing and emphasise the use of science in breed improvement.”
He said Mr Toland had introduced the all-purpose class at the Bendigo Sheep and Wool Show, where sheep could be judged equally on their wool and meat in a field which had traditionally focused on the fleece.
Merino judges were joined by meat breed judges in determining the winner.
Mr McGauchie said that Mr Toland, who was a president of the association for three years, had seen the association through a tough time and, through his leadership, had acted to secure its future.
Mr Toland’s emphasis on the all-purpose role has been very relevant in an industry where the volatile price of wool has let a few farmers down.
The Eastern Market Indicator shows that producers are getting about the same price for their wool today as they were 10 years ago.
Mr Toland grew up on a sheep and beef farm in the isolated hills of Omeo, so he said Merinos were in his blood.
“Around sale time, I would go out mustering with a few dogs, driving the Land Rover. I was only 14 or 15. It was a pretty tough area, cold and dry.”
He recalls the closest towns were Wodonga (180km) or Bairnesdale (122km).
Mr Toland went off to study rural science at the University of New England (Armidale) before finding a job with the Victorian Department of Agriculture at the Rutherglen Research Station and later at Hamilton.
He returned to the family farm at Omeo in his 30s, which was in danger of being dispersed due to changes in family circumstances.
It was here that he further developed his interest in breeding sheep and became involved with industry associations.
He moved to a Bunbartha property in 1989, and after a partnership with his brother, Murray, took up a small grazing block in Feltrim Rd, Violet Town, which was gradually expanded.
Being acutely aware of the history of Australian wool pricing, including the dramatic crash in the floor price in the 1980s, Mr Toland has directed his energies towards the breeding of all-purpose Merinos, and the Toland Poll Merino stud continues that stream today.
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