Location: Walcha, NSW
Property area: 2100 ha (5189 acres)
Enterprise: Merino stud, first cross ewe flock and Poll Hereford
Enterprise targets:
- We normally sell our lambs through store sales but we are hoping the season will open up to allow us to finish the lambs on the place.
- We hope to have part of the place available for agistment.
Goals: Do the best possible job we can in turning sunshine into dollars
Livestock: 500 ewe nucleus fine wool (17 micron) Merino stud, 5000 ewe commercial Merino flock, 1200 first-cross ewe flock and 100 Poll Hereford breeding cattle
Pastures: Improved natives - microlena, phalaris
Soil types: Basalt, mostly trap (sedimentary yellow clay)
Annual rainfall: 800mm
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16 January 2009
We had a really cool and wet December, which resulted in some significant worm outbreaks in younger merino sheep, meaning we had to drench everything pre-weaning for the first time in many years. We are now in a rotation to reduce the worm burden, and this is being assisted by the current spell of hot dry weather.
We used clips for the first time as an alternative to mulesing. It was an acceptable alternative, although the lambs were worried with flies just as the clips were being removed.
We sold our first draft of 2nd cross suckers just after Xmas. They averaged 19.8 kg at $4.40/kg with an $8 skin; a great start. Our lambs have been slow this year, probably because the feed is a bit long. Running some cattle ahead of them should help.
We decided not to stock the new fescue paddock after September so that we could harvest the seed, which we did. We are cutting half the paddock for hay as I write this, and should get about 200 round bales off 40 acres.
The alpacas are in limbo at the moment. We will shear the cross bred sheep early next month and hopefully we will be able to convince a shearer to shear them at the same time.
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3 October 2008
We have marked all the crossbreds and had a lambing rate of 130%, which was slightly below average due to the cold weather that hit during lambing and the lack of feed at the end of August, but the ewes were on self feeders which helped. The Merinos and artificially inseminated ewes are still lambing. The alpacas are doing a great job standing about 3 feet away as each ewe lambs and not letting anything near the mob.
We have got 150 heifers on the fescue which took off with the warmer weather. It is beginning to need some water but it has produced a lot of feed.
We place a pretty big focus upon genetics but you have to be aware of where your markets are going with genetics and try to keep up with what’s happening to supply the market accordingly. Making More From Sheep has provided us with some management ideas especially with finishing systems and matching feed availability to the needs of the animal.
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8 September 2008
We have been shearing for the last 3 weeks and are at the end of shearing the Merino hoggets. The alpacas were in disarray about the sheep being shorn and went to the other end of the paddock.
We bought some crossbred heifers from Walgett online via AuctionsPlus livestock. It provides a very accurate description of the livestock for sale with details on assessed fat score, weight range and photos. You can set your limits and by the click of the mouse bid on stock. We intend to put these heifers on the fescue and they should be ready for joining in 6 weeks time. We have got some good looking calves on the ground as the Poll Hereford breeders come to the end of calving.
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11 August 2008
We have had miserable weather for the past fortnight with harsh winds and heavy frosts. There has been little growth in feed due to the freezing conditions, but the light falls of snow have maintained a bit of moisture in the ground. At the moment it is about 4 degrees with a 15 knot wind in the south.
We have scanned all the artificially inseminated ewes and the flock merino ewes. There are few twins in the flock merinos and only about 4% were dry. The artificially inseminated ewes start lambing on 20 September along with the crossbred ewes which have been drafted into ‘twinners’ and singles so that the twin bearers can be fed a supplement of grain via lick self-feeders. The alpacas have already bonded and are very protective over the ewes having already chased our dogs out of the paddock.
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18 July 2008
The past couple of days have been pretty mild but one morning last week we got down to -11ºC. There has been scattered rainfall with about 25mm of rain over the last week as well as a bit of snow. The mild days have seen the grass green up and the fescue advance but it’s not ready to put stock onto yet. We will be putting the heifers on the fescue to help them achieve their joining weight of about 300kg. We are looking for a suitable bull to join to these heifers in mid-October. We are also looking for a new bull for our Registered Poll Hereford breeders.
This week we are scanning about 150 merino ewes which we artificially inseminated to a plain bodied ram, which also carried the production and fitness ASBVs we are looking for. We will use these results for parentage and management purposes. This year foxes seem to be more of a problem than usual, so in addition to baiting, we bought two alpacas to keep them away when lambing starts.
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2nd July 2008
It has been a pretty dry autumn but we had a lot of rain over summer and the June rainfall has helped us catch up for winter. We have had green feed coming away following the rain, but it’s been hammered pretty hard this last week with frosts. It’s been about 12 months since we have supplementary fed stock but just at the moment we have a small mob of cross-bred ewes carrying twins on a lick feeder to help improve their condition.
We sowed 25ha to fescue in March which the rain in June has helped immensely to get up and established. Recently due to unreliable seasons, we have changed the way we use fertiliser and are now targeting the more productive paddocks which we use for finishing particular classes of livestock.
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