Latana Dorper stud was founded in 1976 under intensive farming conditions after a two-year investigation period on what breed will suit my personal taste and conditions the best.

Although the Dorper was recognized and bred for extensive conditions, I ran a survey with different breeds under intensive conditions to establish the most profitable breed to suit my farming conditions.

I don’t have to say much about my survey. The Dorper outperformed the other breeds over a two-year period by a margin of 26%. It was so successful, that a leading farming magazine wrote an article on my achievements under the heading “Start with the best you can afford.”

I did very well at shows and my vision for breeding was good. In 1988 I showed the Reserve Grand Champion ram in South Africa, called Zephyr. This ram bred very well for me, but the best encouragement I got from it, remains the main driving force behind where I am today.

What is this force, you may ask?

I did not breed this ram! Mr. Albie van Niekerk bred it. The satisfaction I got from buying this ram was in the fact that I selected this ram lamb, by myself, out of a flock of about 100 young rams in 1987. I was at the beginning of my farming career and was feeling great because I realized that my feeling and eye was tuned to see the right Dorper to breed with for progress. This gave me a confirmed sense of confidence in my ability to select correctly, and this fact, more than anything else, helped me on the way forward.

I did many trials with Dorpers from intensive to extensive conditions to establish what survives and what perishes. In 1990 I decided to go for extensive farming and moved my intensive herd to a semi-arid, completely different environment. The Dorper’s adaptability was just unbelievable. All this experience would have been counted lost if I didn’t share it. I captured my first experiences on paper and gave it through in my lectures. I then decided to guard other breeders from making expensive mistakes by writing the book “Dorpers into the new century.” This turned into a CD-ROM project and my motto still stays: ”You make a living by what you get; you make a life by what you give.”

If anyone can benefit even one little thing from this effort it will make me happy.

You may well ask why am I not participating in embryo exports, national shows, national auctions etc. With my career as Flight Engineer, flying around the world, my time was just too limited to do that. With my contacts around the world, I felt that I could give a more unbiased opinion if I didn’t have to do it on my own animals.

While I do get a lot of satisfaction through lecturing, training, consulting and selling all these experiences world-wide, I remain busy with my own trials on many different aspects of Dorper Breeding, in order to give through thoroughly tested information, of value, due to its heritage.

In 1982 I qualified for my judging- and inspectors authority, and also served on the Council of the Dorper Breeders Society for five years.

The Dorper breeds characteristics are so outstanding that it will survive from intensive to extensive, from tropical to desert and adverse weather conditions. I can attest that, if the basic rules and fundamentals as explained in the book (“Dorpers into the new century”) and CD-ROM is followed, the Dorper will look after you as a business partner. Now that you have read all this, you can see in my display what I do under extensive conditions: You be the judge on my farming and let me know if I can assist you in any way.

May your venture exceed your wildest expectations!