Outback Multi-Purpose Merinos: Girilambone’s Richmond Steele on lamb genetics

Richmond Steele was getting genetics from one stud for 20 years — then he bought it. Now he’s nearly doubled his percentages.

After 20 years of running a large-scale commercial operation with genetics from Outback Multi-Purpose Merinos, the Steele family was so impressed they bought the entire stud.

Richmond Steele, along with his parents, Garry and Louella, and his wife Julia, had worked closely with founders Peter and Christine McKid for two decades, buying genetics and providing valuable commercial feedback to help improve key traits.

When Richmond was offered the stud in 2019, he welcomed the opportunity and moved it 25km up the road to their property at Mundadoo Station, Girilambone, NSW.

“The genetics had been working really well for us and we saw the growth, high fat and high muscle and wanted to continue with them,” Richmond said.

“Our breeding objective is a Merino that competes with the meat breeds for fertility and carcass traits while keeping a moderate 70kg frame for efficiency, which we feel is essential in our pastoral environment.”

Richmond Steele, from Mundadoo Station at Girilambone in NSW, runs the Outback Multi-Purpose Merino flock. Picture: Supplied

Multi-Purpose Merinos were developed in 2000 when David Thompson of Moojepin MPM at Katanning in Western Australia, Ben Duxson of Glendemar MPM at Marnoo in Victoria and Peter McKid, of Outback MPM, came together with the aim of creating a perfect dual-purpose sheep.

The criteria was for a low-cost Merino suitable to all conditions that had no wrinkles and could produce more and finer wool, and increased lambing with faster growth rates under normal paddock management conditions.

The three studs were early adopters of leading edge research and technology, including AI, ET and the Australian Sheep Breeding Values Merinoselect program, resulting in greater predictability of mating outcomes.

“These genetics are now producing animals with traits in the top 5 per cent of Australia’s Merinos,” Richmond said.

EXPORT ACTION

MPM now exports genetics in collaboration with breeding operations in South Africa and South America and contributes genetics to China, Kazakhstan, Russia and New Zealand.

The Steeles held their annual on-property sale last September with buyers attending from Victoria, South Australia, Queensland and across NSW. They sold 160 rams for an average of $1794 and young 51kg ewe lambs topped at $418 a head, up from $369 the year before.

“We are getting a lot of positive feedback and it reiterates our breeding objectives that people are after plain bodied, fertile sheep,” Richmond said.

There has been strong support from new and existing clients that are expanding.

“We sold 120 rams last year and 160 this year, plus another 200 grade rams were moved after the sale last month, so we will continue to gauge numbers by demand,” Richmond said.

“It’s hard to know how quick to grow numbers but the feedback has been good and it’s great to see different clients succeeding with what is a change from the more traditional-type sheep.”

The labour requirement for MPM sheep are low as there is no need for mulesing and ewes are highly maternal.

The Steeles run 6000 ewes, including 1400 stud ewes and all have full genomic pedigree. The ewes are joined early February for spring lambing and scanned in lamb at close to 180 per cent.

“Fertility is our big thing,” Richmond said.

“We typically scan 177 per cent to ewes joined and last year we marked 154 per cent of lambs, which is all done on native pasture.”

Ewes are scanned in early May and run separately for single or twins. Stud stock is also DNA tested and flock recorded.

The Outback Multi-Purpose Merino flock grazes all over the 20,000ha Mundadoo Station. Picture: Supplied

“All commercial and stud ewes are electronically tagged so all the pregnancy data is kept,” Richmond said.

“It is very important to assist fertility traits knowing what a sheep has done in her lifetime.”

LAMBING LIFT

Lambing percentages have jumped from 80 per cent 20 years ago to currently 154 per cent overall (179 per cent in twins and 93 per cent in singles).

“We’ve nearly doubled our lambing percentages but we have lost a kilo of wool doing it,” Richmond said.

“We are slowly increasing that wool again.”

Shearing has been conducted biannually in the commercial flock for the last nine years due to the length of staple. They shear in May and November cutting between 65-70mm and 3kg each time – 6kg annually – at 19.5 micron.

The Steeles are part of the Responsible Wool Standards program to ensure they meet rigorous animal welfare, land management and infrastructure requirements. This gives them a premium in the marketplace.

Richmond has always had a keen interest in breeding and had worked closely with the stud’s founder Peter helping with AI and watching management practises closely.

“We love the data and all the DNA information because it makes breeding more predictable than ever before and we can run it more commercially,” he said.

The DNA is collected via a TSU sample whereby a small gun punches a tiny hole in the ear to take a cell sample, which is scanned and correlated with the ear tag of the sheep to give full parentage details.

“You can trace everything and it provides a higher accuracy in breeding values so if there is a fault or if something great is happening, you can be 100 per cent sure that’s where it’s coming from,” Richmond said.

GROWTH GAINS

The MPM breed is working to distance itself from the traditional Merinos, which were bred for wool with limited growth.

“Our MPMs are competing with the meat breeds now for survivability, fertility and growth rates and we hang our hat on that.

“With the increase in lambs came an increase in selection pressure, which gave us more surplus sales and accelerated genetic gain with the throughput of what we were turning over.”

The 20,000ha Mundadoo Station is in the Marra District, 90km north east of Nyngan, and consists of open, natural saltbush plains and native, unimproved pasture.

When the Steeles first took over the stud they were in the midst of drought but seasonal conditions have improved significantly with 2020-21 rainfall on or above the 400mm average.

The Steeles work in conjunction with Richmond’s brother, Sinclair, on his cropping property at Warren, NSW, and also have a small feedlot where they can finish up to 4000 surplus wethers, or use it during drought times as confinement to maintain ground cover and keep condition on ewes.

Last year 4000 wethers, aged six to eight months, were sold to meatworks for an average of $205, while 2000 cull ewe lambs, 12 months, averaged $400 on AuctionsPlus.

The Steeles also trade cattle when conditions allow and this year had 1200 steers for 4.5 months, which were sold to feedlots in NSW and Queensland.

They benchmark their business and rely on that information to help manage the operation.

“Benchmarking gives us a good feel and comparison of other businesses as to what is achievable,” Richmond said.

“That is why we feel the sheep and the fertility in particular are so important for our main profit drivers.”