ABOUT US

Glen Iris is steeped in Dual Purpose Sheep breeding history.

A mixed farming operation with a focus on sheep meat and wool production. The property is situated in the Eurongilly Valley in the Southwest Slopes of NSW, with an average rainfall of 600ml.

Our stud sheep breeding program joins around 450 ewes annually to breed high quality rams for sale and use within the property’s own self replacing flock. 

The stud and property are managed by Daniel and Fiona Rankin, who have progressively assumed the role over the past 10 years from Fiona’s father Gordon Forsyth.

Initially established as a Corriedale stud by its previous owner Sir Graham Waddell, the property was bought on a walk-in walk-out basis by Fiona’s Grandfather Ron Forsyth in 1963. Ron was a prominent stud breeder of Romney Marsh Sheep in Victoria and won numerous prizes at Melbourne Sheepbreeders and other Victorian shows. He also served a term as Federal President of the Romney Marsh Breeders Association.

Ron brought his Romneys to the NSW South West Slopes, but the hot dry summers and autumns wreaked havoc with the wool on their backs. This, coupled with the difficulty in servicing his Victorian clients, led to a decision to sell the Romney stud to a breeder in Gippsland two years later.

During that period, Ron’s son Gordon, re-established a Corriedale breeding program with some of the current stock and the purchase of stud ewes and rams in 1965 from Charles Carroll at Beulah Stud in Trangie.

Gordon, then in his late teens and heavily involved in the Rural Youth Movement, ran the Corriedale Stud as his rural youth project. He was a regular and successful exhibitor at shows in the NSW South West Slopes area. In time an established clientele was formed for the finer, softer wooled Glen Iris type Corriedales, both locally and also for export to overseas markets including Mexico and Romania. 

Glen Iris joined the newly formed Bond Sheepbreeders Association in 1984 following a property visit and sheep inspection by classer/advocate Bill Mildren. The Bond Sheepbreeders Association was a body of visionary and progressive breeders and fit well with the open flock policy adopted by Glen Iris. With the folding of the Bond Sheepbreeders Association Glen Iris has now moved to the Poll name. 

Daniel and Fiona returned to the farm in 2006 dividing their time between farming and  Physiotherapy. After running their own part time physio practice for 14 years, in 2022 they decided to pursue their passion for farming and sheep breeding full time. Daniel and Fiona were keen to join Merino Select and develop ASBV’s with full pedigree to more accurately track and benchmark our genetics, utilising DNA and genomics technology.

The stud continues to focus on breeding profitable, easy care sheep that provide multiple income streams. Together with their two children, Daniel and Fiona are excited about Australian Agriculture and the future of the sheep industry.

For the past 50 years Glen Iris has focused on developing sheep that are profitable, easy care and provide multi income streams.

The quality wool clip, fast maturing, high yielding lambs and valuable surplus ewes provide producers the diversity required in commercial sheep production.

Our breeding objective focuses on producing an uncomplicated, easy care type of sheep with real commercial relevance. Our sheep are open faced, plain bodied, with a broad back and meaty frame. We combine visual assessment and ASBV’s to achieve our goals.