Ewe beauty stems from sufficient feed

Merino industry researchers have spent many years studying the benefits of maintaining ewes at condition score three for the full 12 months of the year, and are extending the findings through the Lifetime Ewe Management (LTEM) training program.

Since it was initiated in 2005, more than 4000 sheep producers have attended a LTEM course.

The program is funded by Australian Wool Innovation (AWI), and training sessions are run by Rural Industry Skills Training (RIST).

Goolma grazier Peter Doherty is reaping the rewards of implementing its key principles on his New South Wales' properties.

He is now preferentially managing his ewe flock to maximise conception, lambing and growth rates for higher total flock productivity and returns per hectare.

Mr Doherty runs 2500 ewes on 810 hectares in the 600 millimetre annual rainfall region of Goolma with his wife Tina and son Damian, and another 800ha on a neighboring property with his brothers Colin and Mark.

Wool has been the family's main business for several decades.

But about 35 per cent of the flock, mainly the older breeders, is crossed with Poll Dorset sires for a small prime lamb operation.

Merino ewes lamb in spring to coincide with peak pasture growth, and crossbred lambs are born in autumn and spring to spread cashflow and reduce risks.

Both sheep enterprises rely on high ewe conception and weaning rates.

The main tactics to achieve this are careful selection of genetics and ensuring adequate nutrition to keep ewes at condition score three all year, as promoted by the LTEM program.

The Doherty's use rams from the Inder family's Allendale Merino stud, based at Wellington, and Trynow Merino stud, in Goolma, to produce sheep with a big frame and long, free-growing fine wool.

Adult Merino ewes produce about seven kilograms per head of wool with an average fibre diameter of 18-19-micron, and lambs produce about 4kg/head of wool with an average fibre diameter of 17-18-micron.

Shearing is carried out annually and adult wool has an average staple length of 110 millimetres and staple strength is in the 40 Newtons per kilotext range.

Significant investments were ploughed into supplementary feeding in 2018 and 2019, when prolonged drought struck the Doherty's farms, to keep ewes on an even, upwards nutritional plane.

"We have spent about $200,000 on sheep feed in recent years," Mr Doherty said.

"Even despite the seasonal turnaround at the start of this year, we have still been putting out hay and grain up to mid-July due to pasture growth stalling.

"This might be due to mice damage, as it is very unusual for the clovers to stagnate in winter as much as they have.

"Despite plenty of rain, there has not been enough pasture growth to sustain ewes at condition score three - and it has been wet and cold at lambing.

"But we are committed to feeding the sheep for as long as we need to.

"This will protect our long-term investments in quality genetics that have made our flock so productive when seasons are kind."

The Doherty's have sourced rams for many years based on production of big-framed sheep with productive skin, nourished wool with good staple length and key fertility and growth traits.

This has led to their breeding flock having annual conception rates of 160 per cent - or higher - in the older sheep, and an increasing number of pregnancies in maiden ewes.

Mr Doherty said 500 out of 850 older ewes had carried twins this year and 300 produced a single lamb.

"It is harder to boost our maiden figures, but we are seeing year-on-year rises by keeping the younger stock in a higher condition score throughout the year," he said.

"This just sets the flock up for success and optimum returns in the long-term."

The Doherty's shear annually and typically receive prices of about 1200-1400 cents a kilogram for adult fleece wool and 1800-2000c/kg for lamb clips.

Based on experience and learning from the LTEM program, the family continues to improve pastures each year by planting a range of lucerne, chickory, phalaris and clovers on heavy soil types, and clover, plantain and digit grass on lighter soils.

Paddocks have been split into 20ha areas for rotational grazing in mobs of about 300-head, which tend to be moved each week during late winter and spring.

Mr Doherty said he was considering preferential management of multiple-bearing ewes in future, based on pregnancy scanning results.

He said this would probably done when electronic ear tags became mandatory for sheep and data could be more easily tracked during an animal's lifetime.

Mr Doherty said attending a LTEM course had reiterated the potential gains on offer if he continued to fine-tune his flock management systems - and ensure adequate ewe nutrition.

He said group sizes at the training sessions were small - typically up to seven participants - and it was also an opportunity to network with and learn from peers.

"We were able to visit each other's farms and hone our skills in condition scoring, pasture assessment and best practice ewe and lamb management," he said.

"The overall aim is to boost sheep reproductive efficiency and wool production, in a sustainable and ethical manner that also reduces ewe and lamb mortality."

LTEM focuses on practice change in key areas of:

- weaning and preparing ewes for the next joining;

- feeding ewes to optimise condition at joining, during pregnancy and when lactating;

- linking ewe condition at joining with lambing potential;

- and boosting single and twin lamb survival.

It also helps producers analyse the economics of different feeding strategies.

AWI said course participants often reported they had been able to increase stocking rates by about 9.3pc, increase marking and weaning by 7pc and reduce ewe mortality by 25pc.

Central to the skills developed through LTEM is the estimation of the quantity and quality of paddock Feed On Offer (FOO).

AWI has also funded a standardised online database of 650 FOO images accessible by producers and advisers to better assess FOO in pastures in southern Australia.

This aligns with a free app, which is designed to be a mobile decision-making tool to help calculate how to best balance sheep energy requirements and available nutrition.

Wool levy payers can get a $1000 subsidy from AWI to enrol in a LTEM course.