Saladero are Responsible Wool Standard (RWS) Certified, as well as part of the Quality Falklands Wool scheme (QFW). Their QFW number is 21.

Saladero, located on East Falklands, has been the home of the National Stud Flock (NSF) since 1996 when the Falkland Islands Government imported 500 Polwarth ewes and 25 Polwarth rams from Tasmania as the nucleus for the stud flock. This came about from a general consensus of Falkland farmers who saw a necessity to fine up the county’s wool clip in the face of downward fluctuating wool prices at the time.

The flock stayed as a pure Polwarth flock until 2011, when Merino genetics were introduced as it was realized that we had exhausted all Polwarth genetics available and were in risk of inbreeding and genetically going backwards.

The Department of Agriculture (DoA) are the caretakers of the NSF, and with advice from the National Stud Flock Committee, oversea their general health and wellbeing as well as overseeing genetic gain. The average micron is now at 19µ.

The DoA uses the industry best practice in animal selection and genetic gain utilizing the SheepGenetics website to monitor ASBVs of the flock which are all DNA tested. Recently, all young stock were backfat scanned to get accurate FAT & EMD ASBVs which had previously been lacking in the flock. Another gain is by signing up to Sapien software which ensures capturing data accurately and allows turning data into information in an efficient manner from which more effective decisions can be made.

The purpose of the NSF is to breed genetically superior rams for sale on an annual basis to improve the overall wool quality of the Falkland Island clip and therefore, hopefully increase financial returns to Falkland Islands farmers by having a high quality product that is able to perform better in worldwide wool markets.

Since the introduction of the NSF, the islands wool clip micron has decreased from an average of 26µ to 22.2µ.

Saladero make the most of the high winds in the Falklands with their own wind turbine, as well as solar panels to produce their own renewable energy.