Merinos remain profitable with the right bloodlines
Recent wether trial shearings have provided strong evidence to contradict the talking down of the profitability of Merino sheep.
Provided you have the right sheep, there’s still a profit to be made, according to NSW Department of Primary Industries (DPI) Young based sheep and wool officer, Sally Martin.
"There have been four wether trial shearings around NSW over the past three months and the same message can be drawn from each set of results," Ms Martin said.
"The top performing teams in these trials are earning an extra 35 to 40 per cent more in wool value on a dollar per head basis than the bottom performing teams."
Ms Martin said the weather trial teams were randomly drafted, not hand picked, to replicate an average flock performance.
"This extra income per head has been demonstrated in different climatic environments and management systems, from high rainfall, high stocking rates to lower rainfall and more conservative stocking rates," she said.
"Even wool prices based on a five year, twelve month, or spot wool market show the same variation in profitability."
At one site, there was a $297 per hectare net profit difference between the top performing 20% and the bottom 20% of teams, after all variable and overhead costs were taken into consideration.
The body weight differences are relatively low between teams within trial sites, demonstrating that certain flocks are more efficient, producing more wool per hectare.
"You might feel that wether trial information is not relevant to your enterprise or business because you don’t keep wethers more than 12 months old," Ms Martin said.
"However the trial information gives the best picture of what a flock’s ewe base would contribute in addition to the contribution from one wool clip from wether lambs prior to sale at 12 months."
A full Merino Bloodline Performance comparison will be available in the next two months that compares all the Merino bloodlines entered in wether and ewe trials across Australia.
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Media contact: Tom Braz 0428 256 596, (02) 6391 3579