PO Box 21 KojonupWestern Australia 6395 Ph: (08) 9834 1020; Fax: (08) 9834 1050 Mob: 0429 882822 EMAIL craig@genstock.com.au WEBSITE: www.breedersbestgenetics.com.au

ADVANCED PERFORMANCE SHEEP GENETICS

Whilst most areas in the Southern agricultural region of the state have received adequate rainfall, pastures remain very sparse. Unfortunately, regardless of what happens from now on, pasture availability will be less than normal. Sheep producers must take alternative management strategies to ensure the profitability of their flocks.

The first and probably the most critical is early weaning. It is far more feed efficient to feed ewes and lambs separately than through milk production. Lambs can be safely weaned at 8 weeks of age provided adequate nutrition is available. If weaning paddocks with adequate pasture are not available, supplementary feeding is essential. Train the lambs to consume supplementary feed with their mothers prior to weaning. Lick or creep feeders are advantageous and may only need filling every 2 – 3 weeks.

Ewes in poorer condition will also need additional supplementation. To ensure maximum conception rates for next year, ewes need to be in a score 3 at mating. Special attention should be given to any hoggets, late mated ewes, or ewe lambs that have recently had their progeny weaned.

Close monitoring of Faecal Worm Egg Counts (FWEC) is also critical, particularly when sheep are under nutritional stress - refer to the article in Sheep Health for more information.

Please do not hesitate to contact me should you require any further assistance with sheep husbandry advice.

BreedersBEST Genetics attended both the Bendigo Sheep

Show and Hamilton Sheep Vention in July & August this year.

We displayed our Maternal breeds with 4 Kojak & 4 Prolific

rams making the trip across the Nullarbor.

There was a lot of interest from Eastern States producers.

The large frame and size of the Kojak stood out and their

higher fertility created much discussion.

The wool on the Prolific also created interest as many

producers using composites in the East are being significantly

discounted on their broad micron, low fleece weight wool.

The ease of producing an extremely fertile maternal with

good quality wool, by simply crossing a Prolific ram over a

Merino ewe, appealed to the many producers who visited our

display.

The gap in numbers of lamb and mutton processed in the 2017 calendar year continues to widen. The WA slaughter statistics indicate over 490,000 fewer livestock have been processed this calendar year through to 30th June 2017.

WA slaughter numbers for the calendar year through to 30/6/17.

Year Sheep Total

Sheep / Week

Lambs Total

Lambs / Week

TOTAL

2017 373,332 14,359 1,190,590 45,792 1,563,922

2016 654,864 24,254 1,400,412 51,867 2,055,276

Due to increasing availability of local livestock and drying conditions, the number of young ewes (mainly to Victoria) and lambs (to both South Australia and Victoria) has slowed in recent weeks. Still over 239,000 more ewes and lambs were sent east in the 16/17 financial year compared with the 15/16 year.

WA livestock movements to the Eastern states as recorded at Ceduna

Year Sheep Lambs Total

2016/17 212,278 105,563 317,841

2015/16 48,678 30,016 78,694

The number of sheep purchased by the live export sector in 2016/17 appears to be on track to be similar to that purchased in 15/16 – approx. 1.67M. The data below shows the 16/17 financial year data up to the end of May whilst the 14/15 and 15/16 are full financial years.

National and WA live sheep export numbers.

Year 2014/15 2015/16 2016/17

Total Exported 2,179,956 1,859,459 1,732,556

WA Numbers 1,781,348 1,669,836 1,532,791

WA % 81.70% 89.80% 88.50%

mailto:craig@genstock.com.au

Sherwood Poll Dorset Ram Sale Team 2017

Ashbourne White Suffolk Sale Team 2017

Bundarra Downs 122261 White Suffolk Progeny at 12 weeks with

recipient ET ewes

Weaned PD & WS Lambs at 16 weeks

With sale ram cataloguing only a couple of weeks away, it is

anticipated that nearly all the Sherwood Poll Dorset and

Ashbourne White Suffolk rams in our on-property sale, will

have Carcase Plus indexes greater than 190.

Both terminal breeds have exceptional growth ASBV’s,

calculated by weaning weight and post weaning weight, plus

eye muscle depth and are well above industry averages.

These figures determine how quickly the ram’s progeny will

grow to a marketable weight and therefore clients can

utilise our genetics being assured of the best economic

returns.

In addition, we are paying particular attention to birth

weight and every lamb born is weighed at birth with low to

moderate birth weights being selected for, thus minimising

any risk of birth dystocia.

By sourcing semen from Australia’s leading Terminal sires

and extrapolating out numbers through extensive Embryo

transfer programs, clients can be guaranteed that genetic

gains will continue to grow every year.

Australia’s leading White Suffolk sire Bundarra Downs

122261 was used in an embryo transfer program and the

resulting 80 progeny born in June, are showing huge

potential. This sire has a low birth weight index, coupled

with enormous growth rates and Carcase Plus of 235.

A further 140 progeny have resulted from embryo transfer

programs out of elite Ashbourne White Suffolk ewes,

utilising Andon 150346 & Farrer 150183. Both these sires

also have huge carcass plus figures and exceptional ranking

for meat eating qualities.

The Sherwood Poll Dorset progeny from the two sires

purchased last season, Aberdeen 150038 for $17,000 and

Ulandi Park 150024 for $13,500, are showing tremendous

promise. The lambs have just been weaned with weights far

exceeding expectations given the very trying seasonal

conditions, topping the scales at 60.5kg at 16 weeks of age.

Sherwood 150137 remains a leading Australian Poll Dorset

sire with a carcase plus of 233. Several of his progeny will

be offered in our forthcoming sale displaying very balanced

ASBV’s and Carcase Plus rankings greater than 210.

The recent acceptance of genomic testing of sheep meat eating quality (SMEQ) has added a tremendous tool for advancing to significant increases in overall eating quality. Extensive trial work carried out by the sheep Co-operative Research Centre (funded by MLA) has enabled identification of genomic markers for key sheep meat quality traits that can be identified from a blood or tissue sample.

The future of lamb continuing to attract premium prices is dependent on improving overall sheep meat eating quality. There are two key traits, firstly Intramuscular fat (IMF) and secondly Shear force (the force required to cut through a piece of sheep meat).

BreedersBEST terminal genetics are extremely well placed with LEQ (Lamb Eating Quality) with rankings for both breeds being well above breed averages.

Prolific & Kojak Sale Rams 2017

Prolific Stud Ewes & Lambs marked at 154%

Kojak Sale Rams 2017

With the present exceptional returns for both sheep meat and wool, the economic scenario for running sheep has never looked better. In many cases producer’s sheep flocks are way out performing their

cropping enterprises in terms of gross margin.

Our philosophy with Kojak and Prolific genetics is to push the fertility boundaries as hard as possible, thus increasing the number of lambs weaned per hectare and improving client’s bottom line.

In addition, because of the strength of the current wool market, our Prolific genetics are really showing their true worth because of their heavier wool cut and lower micron in comparison to other maternal breeds. The wool from the F1 Prolific is adding real value to client’s gross incomes.

Our commercial flock, Evergreen Grazing Company, markets over 8000 prime lambs annually providing a sound commercial bench mark for our BreedersBEST genetics. Last year our Prolific F1 ewe flock cut 4.67 kg of 23.3 micron wool which sold for $8.51/kg in December, thus equating to $39.74/ head of wool income.

Scott Newbey, a Prolific client from Broomehill, has been closely comparing his Prolific F1 flock to his Merino ewe flock. Scott stated “My blue tag Prolific F1 ewes scanned at 60% twins and cut 4.67kg of 22.95 micron wool which sold for 1013 c/kg greasy. My blue tag merino ewes cut 5.46 kg which sold for 1059c/kg, however the extra lambs expected from the Prolific F1 ewes should well exceed any difference in wool price”.

Scott has also mated his F1 ewe lambs at seven to eight months of age and achieved an 80% pregnancy rate with about half expecting twins.

Kojak Stud Ewes & Lambs marked at 136%

Prolific client Mark Madew from Gingin purchased Prolific rams last season for the first time & is extremely eulogistic with the resulting progeny. He recently sold 250 F1 Prolific wether lambs in the Muchea sale yard & averaged $144.50. In comparison, his X Bred terminal lambs, although on better pasture, did not achieve the same weights as the F1 Prolifics. Mark is excited about mating his F1 Prolific ewe lambs this coming season, anticipating mating weights to average mid 50kg which should achieve a 90% plus conception rate.

Hamish Thorn from Kojonup, like many of our non-shearing clients, made the switch from Dorper’s to Kojak’s several years ago. The increased fertility and far higher growth rates have made considerable economic gains for their 6000 ewe enterprise.

“The Kojak’s are far easier to handle & are easier to contain than the Dorper”, Hamish stated. “This year we mated 1800 Kojak ewe lambs at the beginning of February and achieved an 88% conception rate.

The ewe lambs averaged 50 – 55kg live weight. At scanning we estimated they were carrying 30% multiples and we hope to mark around 100% of lambs. Not bad for sheep that are only 12 – 14 months of age” Hamish said.

With the primary profit driver for a non-shearing flock being fertility, BreedersBEST are continuing to push the boundaries for maximising reproductive rates from the Kojak.

The goal for the BreedersBEST Kojak, is to achieve a minimum lamb marking percentage of 150% from a 6-week spring joining. To achieve this FINN genetics are

being extensively used because of their robustness in terms of fertility and high ovulation rate.

Hamish Thorn with Kojak ewes & Lambs

Anyone who has Prolific F1 or Kojak ewes or ewe lambs surplus to their requirements are encouraged to

contact us as we have increased demand for them at a premium price.

The tight seasonal conditions has led to increased worm burdens in many flocks. There have been some recordings of severe sheep losses with extreme infestations. Worm egg counts on suspect mobs should be closely monitored. A drench

with a less than 100% efficacy can be used because unless a CLEAN pasture is available, the sheep will be returning to a wormy paddock and re-infesting. Any weaned lambs will need an effective drench and may need monitoring in another six weeks. If a drench resistance

test has not been performed in the past three years – now is definitely the time to do one.

There appears to be an increase in the level of Sheep Measles

(Ovis) in slaughter lambs. Taenia Ovis is a Tapeworm parasite

that lives in the intestinal tract of dogs. An infected dog excretes

eggs that hatch into larvae in the pasture. These larvae are

ingested by the sheep and burrow into the muscle where they

form cysts and hence the name Sheep Measles.

Infected carcases are downgraded at the abattoir which results in

significant losses to both producer and processor. At this stage

the only method of control is by worming dogs every 4 – 6 weeks

with an effective tapeworm control eg Pyraquantal tablets. Dogs

need to be restricted from eating offal, carcasses or raw sheep

meat.

Foxes have a limited role as they are rarely infected by Taenia

Ovis. Research work is currently being undertaken to produce a

vaccine which should minimise the impact.

Dual Emission X-ray Analysis (DEXA) will be installed at WAMMCO within the next six

months. The resulting image, will determine the lean meat yield of each individual

carcase. Initially the DEXA machine will be placed at the end of the killing chain and will

give valuable information back to producers on their lambs.

Eventually the DEXA machine will be based in the boning room and linked to robotics to

cutting the carcase. It is predicted this will enable an increase in saleable lean meat of 1 –

2 %.

Development is still to be undertaken of a hyperspectral camera that will be linked to the

DEXA to give an image of a cut surface through the loin to determine intramuscular fat.

This will be a major breakthrough in terms of data that can be used to enhance meat eating

quality.

RAM SALE – ANNUAL ON PROPERTY

• 120 POLL DORSET • 80 WHITE SUFFOLK • 100 KOJAK • 80 PROLIFIC

12.00pm Wednesday 27th September At “Koojan”, Albany Highway, Kojonup

FIELD DAYS

• NEWDEGATE: 6th – 7th September