Shelford sheep producer’s winning mix of genetics
Genetics have lifted a Western District prime flock’s wool values.
SHEEP on this Western District property don’t want to get a red tag.
It’s a ticket out of a complex operation that has extraordinarily high lamb survival rates, low ewe mortalities, high joining percentages and a unique genetic mix.
The 1220ha property at Shelford is intricately managed by Gordon Brown, and runs up to 3000 ewes and a small area of cropping for production of grain to feed the stock.
Gordon knows the performance of each of the sheep, so much that if a ewe has a bad udder, doesn’t lamb or has troubling lambing, it gets a red tag.
As soon as there is enough of the red tags, they are sold.
GORDON BROWN
SHELFORD
MANAGES a 1220ha property running up to 3000 ewes
THERE’S also a small area of cropping for grain to feed stock
RUNS a high-performance flock with zero tolerance of non-performers
SAYS a move to Multi-Purpose Merinos has increased income
It’s this attention to detail and lack of tolerance of non-performers, combined with careful selection of genetics, that have produced a highly productive sheep enterprise.
The property had run cattle, but seven years ago switched to sheep.
The goal was lamb production, and plenty of it, hence the decision to use a Highlander-Composite cross.
There was nothing wrong with this cross, which produces highly fertile ewes and excellent mothering, resulting in impressive lambing percentages and a standing order at a major abattoir. But Gordon wanted more from his sheep.
“I always liked wool and when we had the Highlander-Composite sheep in the yards, you just wouldn’t open up the fleece because there was no point,” Gordon said.
“The composite fleece is like fluff — 32-33 micron, worth about $2/kg and the sheep cut 2kg. I wanted to see if we could turn shearing these sheep from a cost to an income.”
DUAL GOALS
AFTER talking to a consultant working with the local Barwon prime lamb group, Gordon decided to throw a multi-purpose Merino into the genetic mix, to the surprise of many.
He chose his genetics carefully though, going to Glendemar Merinos to secure rams.
Sires were selected using Australian Sheep Breeding Values, concentrating on rams with high Australian Sheep Breeding Values for fat, growth and eye-muscle area, but still had good wool testing 18-20 micron.
“What I did is not common. Most people go the other way and join composites to Merinos,” he said. “I was just keen to see if we could get some more quality in the wool, and turn it into an income stream.
“At the same time, I didn’t want to lose any of the attributes I already had with the flock. I needed to retain the lambing percentages, mothering, and good growth.”
The Glendemar Merinos were put over the Highlander-Composite ewes for the first time last year, and the progeny shorn this year.
The experiment worked. Fleeces tested 23 micron in the first drop and cut about 1kg more of wool worth twice the amount of the fleece from the Highlander-Composite. “It was an incredible transformation. The wool is soft and bright,” Gordon said.
“In just one joining, there was a significant change in wool type, softness and brightness.”
EYES ON PRIZE
ALL the while the experiment was going on, Gordon was conscious that he needed to maintain the already highly productive flock.
It’s not uncommon for his flock of ewes to scan 180 per cent in lamb, and then mark 178 per cent of lambs from the same ewes, with little lamb wastage and deaths. Ewe mortalities are also low with less than 50 ewes lost in the 3000 lambed down this year.
One small mob of 38 triplet-bearing ewes produced a 234 per cent lambing result. The best result from a small mob of triplets (10 ewes) was 260 per cent.
Gordon attributed the low losses to culling ewes that are not good mothers or have poor udders, keeping ewes in four- score body condition and small lambing groups for ewes that are carrying either twins or triplets.
The flock is joined for just five weeks, encompassing two reproductive cycles.
During joining ewes are trail-fed a mix of grain and lupins at a rate of 4-5kg/sheep, and Gordon said helped give rams the best access to the ewes, but also to be in good working condition. The tight joining results in an even line of lambs when they are sold.
The ewes are then lambed down and divided into 50 different mobs after they are scanned into groups carrying singles, twins and triplets. He is happy to run flocks of up to 130 for single-bearing ewes, but likes to get numbers down to 12-15 for breeders carrying triplets. Paddocks are sometimes divided with electric fencing to ensure this can be achieved with the ideal size about 10ha.
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WETHER RADAR
WETHER lambs are sold at 16 to 18 weeks straight off their mothers, consigned directly to the abattoir. Those lambs are tipping the scale at 22-23kg liveweight, having gained up to 500g a day since they were born in July.
All of this is achieved on some improved country including lucerne paddocks oversown with red wheat and oats, offering a smorgasbord of feed, but also native pastures.
Gordon has tried opportunity feedlotting some Highlander-Composite cross but found he was penalised for too much fat in the 28-29kg lambs.
He’s hopeful the new cross, with the splash of Merino, may make this possible.
Another factor that Gordon feels is essential to preserve with the new genetic mix is the ability to join ewe lambs. He joins ewe lambs at seven months, achieving the target joining weight of above 50kg.
He said this made the flock even more productive and impressive lambing percentages in the maiden ewe lambs of above 140 per cent had convinced him it is a good choice.
While his first foray into including Merinos into the genetic mix was done with a smaller group of 250 ewes, its success means 800 will be joined this way next year.
Next year’s joining break-up is 1000 Composite ewes joined to Highlanders, 800 Highland-Composite ewes joined to Merinos and remaining ewes joined to White Suffolks.
He will continue to be just as diligent in handing out the red tags to ewes that don’t perform, regardless of genetics.
“Through careful use of genetics and being diligent with our monitoring, we have ended up with a smart mob of ewes that are really productive. As a manager, that makes most owners pretty happy,” he said.
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