Program to boost lamb numbers all about management
Harrow lamb producer Hamish Ellis is on track to double his flock size in three years, using this industry-leading game plan.
Achieving 90 per cent survival of foetuses in ewes is an aspirational goal.
For Western District lamb producer Hamish Ellis, it is a core strategy to make the most of every ewe in his self-replacing maternal composite flock, and one he hopes will help him double his operation size in the next three years.
The 29-year-old returned to his family’s Harrow farm five years ago, now managing a 1400ha slice of the property. The land has been in the Ellis family since the 1930s, previously leased out as a whole.
Hamish joined 6300 ewes this year, and is on track to expand by 1000 next year.
“I do plan in the next few years to try to take back the rest of the farm and grow that number,
probably to hit 12,000 in the next three years,” he said.
The goal is ambitious, but Hamish’s industry-leading lamb survival, with his flock averaging 85-90 per cent survival rates year in, year out, puts it easily in reach.
BEST PRACTICE PROGRAM LAUNCH
Hitting a 90 per cent survival rate in single and twin-bearing ewes is also the key tenant of the industry’s new Towards 90 program.
A desire to see more lambs make it from joining to weaning and a disconnect between research and extension are the drivers of the program.
Towards 90 is “all about sheep reproduction best practice” according to Dr Andrew Kennedy, who has overseen the development of the program.
“In simple terms, T90 is about implementing the management to sustainably generate more lambs to sell,” Dr Kennedy said.
The kernel of the idea started when Dr Kennedy was facilitating the western region Southern Australian Livestock Research Council, where the message was loud and clear that there was a large volume of research that was “sitting on the shelf”.
That, combined with knowing leading producers were offering their time and expertise to help others, as well as Dr Kennedy’s background in extension activities, led to the creation of T90.
What tipped the scales in the end though was a call from Meat and Livestock Australia.
“MLA called for bigger and bolder projects, which led to the submission of the project that aimed to provide a mix of observation and trialability across key practices of the sheep reproduction cycle and a framework to deliver this to producers,” Dr Kennedy said.
The industry had the figures to know there was potential to get more foetuses to weaning.
“Essentially, the national scanning rate is quoted as 125 per cent and the marking rate is 90 per cent, which equates to a survival rate (of foetuses) of about 72 per cent when you look at singles and twins together,” Dr Kennedy said.
“A 90 per cent survival rate in single and twin-bearing ewes is an aspirational target – something to aim for and it can be achieved across individual paddocks when conditions and management are favourable.
“There are a top few producers who regularly achieve 88-90 per cent survival across mature ewes but there is still work to do to achieve it across all ewes which includes ewe lambs and maidens.”
MORE PADDOCKS, SPLIT LAMBING
For Hamish, a focus on best practice has paid dividends.
“I have been working pretty hard on lowering my mob sizes,” Hamish said, who drafts ewes carrying twins into mobs of 60-70 animals.
He splits bigger paddocks up with hot wires for the duration of lambing to manage groups according to their nutritional needs.
Having worked for Tim Leeming’s Paradoo Prime seedstock business for two years before branching out on his own, Hamish learnt sound management principles that are now part of the sheep industry’s new Towards 90 program.
Tim Leeming was part of the reference group that helped develop the new sheep reproduction best practice framework, which aims to help farmers generate more lambs to sell.
Hamish sources seedstock from Paradoo, selecting rams with positive muscle that produce early maturing sheep.
“You want animals with fat on them so when lambs are born, they are less likely to die from exposure,” Hamish said.
A split joining, with two groups lambing during shorter time windows, helps him target nutritional needs of animals that need it most, specifically twin-bearing ewes.
“Having the split gives you more time to grow more feed, and to use those better paddocks and better shelter – the chosen lambing paddocks – multiple times throughout your lambing,” he said.
This year, Hamish’s first group started lambing on June 25, and ran for two weeks. The second group is due to start at the end of July.
He aims to keep twin-bearing ewes in condition score 2.5-3 at the point of lambing, with lambs weaned at about 8-10 weeks. The first strategy improved survival rates, while the second was about maximising each ewe’s output, he said.
“Once the lambs are born, it is all about getting the ewe back into condition to make sure she can go again the following year,” he said. “If you have a ewe that has twins, you want to make sure it has twins again.”
HOW TO TAKE PART IN TOWARDS 90
Dr Kennedy said implementing the key practices in T90 would contribute toward maximising welfare and improved productivity.
“It sounds clichéd, but they are complimentary and it doesn’t make sense to do one without the other,” he said.
“I suppose the conscious approach is about productivity but the subconscious outcome is improved animal welfare and also advisor-consultant upskilling, which all lead to a better industry.”
The T90 program consists of 10 modules that cover best management practices spanning the reproductive cycle of sheep.
Dr Kennedy said some of the modules were dependent on prerequisite management, but in general producers could pick and choose the modules they were interested in.
The modules will be released over the next six weeks and producers can enrol and then be guided by a service provider or consultant.
While the T90 program has been developed for lamb production, Dr Kennedy said it was not specifically maternal crossbred focused.
“The materials and information are directed at all genotypes that want to improve lamb survival and increase the number of lambs sold,” he said.
“Hence, where available, Merino and non-Merino information is also provided.”
To find out more, visit towards90.com.au
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