Coopdale
Selling 25 Rams annually
Bred Under Pressure
The Triple Farms Coopdale flock runs alongside 3,000 commercial breeding ewes on steep Ongarue hill country, under the same no-drench, unshepherded conditions as the Coopworth stud flock. It's the only stud on the property Alan and Kerri built entirely from scratch — because nothing else in the market fitted what their farm actually needed.
History
The Coopdale flock was established in 2022 by Alan and Kerri, after struggling to find genetics that suited their own commercial farming system and breeding goals. Rather than compromise, they built a composite themselves, and it was through establishing the Coopdale that they discovered their passion for stud breeding, which later led them to purchase the Coopworth and Suftex flocks from Ashgrove Genetics in 2023.
Breeding Philosophy
At Triple Farms we believe a stud needs to perform under strict commercial conditions, not just look good on paper. Our stud flock is run alongside our commercial ewes from weaning through to mating, and anything that can't perform is culled, regardless of figures or breeding. Low input and structural soundness are at the forefront of what we look for in sheep, and we're committed to producing low-input, high-output sheep that perform under pressure. The Coopdale is the clearest expression of that philosophy. It’s a flock built specifically because nothing else could do the job in this steep hill country.
Hybrid vigour and shiftability aren't traits that show up in an easy paddock. They only mean something when tested on the steep country they're bred for, which is exactly where the Coopdale flock is run, unshepherded, alongside the commercial ewes it was built to match.
What the Flock Emphasises
The Coopdale is bred for hybrid vigour and shiftability on the hills. It’s got genetics built to move, hold condition and perform on genuinely steep country, not just survive on it.
Breeding Strategy
Structure comes first, above all else, in every selection decision. The flock is fully recorded on SIL, the ewes run under a strict no-drench policy with only minimal drenching in lambs, and workload is reduced through dag scoring, bare breeching and no dipping for fly in the ewe flock. Hoggets are mated, and lamb unshepherded on hill country. This is the same standard the Coopworth Triple Farms stud is held to.
That adds up to genuine ewe efficiency: more from less. Less work, less cost, higher output, and less impact on the land — a 65kg ewe weaning over 150% to the ram.
The Triple Farms Guarantee
All lambs are DNA tested and are sire and dam verified
Maternal rams are FEC tested
All rams are structurally sound
Why a Triple Farms Coopdale Ram?
The Coopdale exists because straight-bred genetics weren't cutting it on steep country that demands both hybrid vigour and the ability to shift. As a composite, it carries the same heterosis advantage that underpins crosses like Coopworth over Romney. That’s higher fertility, better survival, and more kilograms of lamb produced per ewe — built in as standard rather than relying on a one-off cross.
A Triple Farms Coopdale ram brings that vigour and hill-country shiftability from a flock that's DNA verified, FE tested FEC tested and structurally sound, run under the same commercial pressure as every other genetic line on the farm. They’re bred specifically for country that doesn't forgive genetics that can't keep up.
Genomics and Selection
Every lamb DNA tested with sire and dam verification, combined with full SIL recording, means the Coopdale flock is already positioned to benefit from genomic selection, giving more accurate breeding values earlier, particularly for traits like hybrid vigour, survival and hill-country soundness that are otherwise slow to prove up through performance records alone.
Triple Farms Coopworth flock have been tested for FE by Ashgrove Genetics since 1985 and achieved FEGold status in 2005.
Triple Farms Coopdales are tested at 0.4mg/kg with the goal of reaching 0.6mg/kg.
