Jackson Byrnes, a mixed farming success story

Jackson Byrnes saw a huge opportunity in the Riverina when he jumped onto doing sheep — and it’s a move that’s worked wonders.

Inexperience has given producer Jackson Byrnes a fresh set of eyes when it comes to running stock in the sheep heartland of the Riverina.

While the area may be renowned for the size, scale and productivity of its stock, Jackson has used his mixed farming background and applied strategies that have worked in cropping to breeding prime lambs.

Jackson on his property. Picture: Fiona Myers

He started his operation near Hay for a number of reasons.

“I had an opportunity to form my own farm management company, with my major client being a major Australian University completing rural based research, as well as fitting into expansion of the family business,” Jackson said.

“Sheep were a good fit to maximise the return of my available time, while fitting into my management calendar well.”

Maximising yield is key when cropping in the mixed farming operation and it’s that same facts-driven approach that underpins his ram selections when joining White Suffolks to his flock of up to 700 Merino ewes.

Jackson has applied a scientific approach to sheep farming, with an emphasis on genetics and lambing percentages.

The lamb marking percentages tell the real story – 153 per cent of White Suffolk-sired lambs marked to six and seven-year-old Merino ewes run on 1813ha, supplemented with additional seasonal leases near Hay, NSW.

MONEY FOR VALUE

Management is part of the reason for the good percentages, but genetics play their role too and that’s why Jackson, a self-declared newbie to the sheep industry, has used his cropping acumen and applied it to ram selection.

“This is a good result for pastoral country,” Jackson said.

“Careful choice of Australian Sheep Breeding Values and ewe genetics, even if they are old, and good feed management are the keys.”

The operation was using White Suffolk rams from one stud but about 25 per cent of them were breaking down every year, with a lot of foot and lower leg issues.

When drawing up a list for a potential new ram supplier, Jackson took an objective approach.

“I put together a list of studs and then tested that list against whether they had sheep breeding values and could feed me the information I wanted to make a good decision,” he said.

That search ended at the Warburn White Suffolk stud at Griffith, NSW, as it met Jackson’s criteria and was also in a similar climate.

Jackson is keen to use his cropping acumen and apply it to breeding prime lambs.

Jackson taught himself how to use Lambplan and ASBVs, with the assistance of industry stalwart and private consultant Geoff Duddy.

“I was able to develop an idea of how to get where I wanted in terms of using figures and to pull together information for our flock goal using the ASBVs,” he said.

Yet that information is balanced against what the rams look like, and, whether they were from a multiple birth or not.

“Fertility is highly heritable so I try to choose rams that are either a twin or a triplet,” he said.

“It’s the first and most important piece of data that I look at.”

LAMBING PLANNING

Birth weight is another trait that made the selection short list. With large paddock sizes of up 600ha and an inability to closely monitor lambing ewes, smaller birth weights and the ability for ewes to lamb easily was a non-negotiable.

“We place a lot of faith in the birth weight figure and using low birth weight rams to get live lambs on the ground,” Jackson said.

Foetus survival is all about ewe management and Jackson said he was not afraid to supplementary feed stock with anything from faba beans to other pulses to barley and lupins to make sure their condition is right for lambing.

“It’s a good investment and while it does add to the costs, it allows the sheep to have maximum production.”

Post weaning weight was also a key selection criteria and he only looks at rams which have figures of at least 15 for PWT.

The country that the mob of ewes is run on has a rainfall of about 300-350mm, and so early growth is important so lambs can be weaned and sold as quickly as possible to utilise the winter and spring feed wedge.

“The basics are that we want lambs on the ground, and those lambs have to have good growth rates,” Jackson said.

“We like to choose PWT figures that are a minimum of four to five kilograms above industry average of benchmark Lambplan data.”

Underpinning the selections is the goal of improving survival rates of foetuses. There is no point, Jackson said, in having an impressive scanning rate and a standard weaning rate.

“We want to keep our lamb mortality rates as low as possible, and we want to improve foetus survival,” he said.

The sheep enterprise is operated near Hay on 1813ha, and other seasonal leases nearby, and comprises a flock of about 700 Merino ewes joined to White Suffolk rams.

“The first year we lambed down, we had a foetus loss rate of 20 per cent while still achieving a weaning percentage of 115 per cent.

“Depending on the region, a lot of people could be happy with that out of Merinos but we could see there were improvements that could be made that would improve our bottom line simply by making sure we had greater foetus survival.”

Jackson is also keen to see a tighter lambing, knowing the advantages of turning off an even line of sucker lambs on the Hay Plains at 40-44kg liveweight at 16 to 20 weeks, before the season turns.

“You have to be confident that what you select for is going to give you a consistent result, we aim for results that are achievable and will continue to refine and improve our goals as we gain more experience.”

HEALTH PLAN

Running sheep in the Riverina tends to be a lower cost operation with natural grasses providing an economic feed source and the extensive nature of the grazing requiring less drenches and animal health products.

But he ensures he has a planned animal health campaign each year in a pre-emptive strike against disease and pests.

There have been some hiccups along the way in terms of managing the flock but he said they were only mistakes if you did not learn from them.

He’s learned the importance of correctly estimating feed quality and quantity in a rangelands environment with pastures degraded by summer rain.

He also now ensures the condition of ewes is suitable to lambing.

“The first year I lambed, we had a great spring, the ewes were too heavy and I had trouble lambing,” Jackson said.

“It has been a steep learning curve for me to be able to manage the flock but I have enjoyed every minute, I think it’s important to note we don’t get it right every time, however, it’s important to keep striving for better.

“Obviously there are guys pushing the boundaries to achieve higher results than industry standard, however as a whole, we have such great data and tools to help us achieve our intended results in cropping.

“Livestock are so unique and there are so many different facets in play which can make it harder to work out the right approach, with every farmer having their own unique approach, but ultimately it’s about what works for you.”