Labour key to wool efficiency
- 2pc return on asset improvement through labour savings
- Move to cradle crutching good place to start to change
- Syndicating equipment and jobs with neighbours.
- Considering contract services – which could sometimes appear high but for a specific job, on a whole farm basis, could be cheap and well worth considering.
- Combine operations where possible such as crutch or jet ewes at marking or weaning, summer drench ewes at weaning or draft out the tail of ewes at weaning. Adult sheep should be condition scored and drafted whenever they were in the yards.
- Sound fencing, laneways, good dogs and well-lit yards.
- Changing lambing to spring which matches the demand of the animals more with pasture supply instead of in autumn, when often stock were being supplementary fed, which required more labour. Cradle crutching and jetting could be combined with mulesing and a later lambing.
- Autumn shearing has better weather, resulting in possibly one crutching and fewer rain delays.
