Most commercial woolgrowers breed their own ewe replacements but purchase rams or semen from studs. However if woolgrowers wish to maximise genetic improvement in their flocks, they should ensure that they have a well-classed ewe flock. The structure of the Merino industry in Australia is a hierarchy. There are a few large parent studs at the top with daughter and general studs on the next level. Daughter and general studs buy rams from one or more of the parent studs.
Commercial flocks are at the base of the pyramid.
These buy rams from the studs above. The important consequence of this, genetically, is that studs in such a structure determine the rate and direction of genetic improvement in the commercial flocks who buy their rams. This means that choosing a stud is the single most important sheep breeding decision a commercial woolgrower makes. In choosing a stud you need to ask some important questions. For a breeding program to be successful it must have a breeding objective.