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Merinos for Wool, Sheep and Meat $ales |
Sheep NLIS Forum & Ram Shearing Day
More than 100 Western sheep breeders and agents attended the Alma Sale Ram Shearing and Sheep NLIS Information Day held Friday 21 April 2006 at the Alma woolshed.
Ian Lilburne kept the crowd's focus as he gave his view of the type of Merino that needs to be bred out west today to be profitable.
Ian said that no longer are the wool traits of our Merinos the primary focus of a breeding program.
We need to look at where the profit is generated in a Western Merino.
Fertility and good mothering ability, along with early maturity and a plainer-bodied, easier to shear sheep have all come into the equation of profitability.
Ian said that the Merino still has a rightful place out on the Western Hay Plains and beyond, but we will have to reassess what we have been doing as breeders for many years.
Ian introduced the new Alma Poll Merinos an example of the type of sheep he believes are needed to remain profitable in all seasonal and market conditions.
Scenes from Alma Ram Shearing Day & Sheep NLIS Information Forum, April 2006
“Fertility and good mothering ability, along with early maturity and a plainer-bodied, easier to shear sheep have all come into the equation of profitability.”
-- Ian Lilburne
Bill O'Halloran, NSW DPI Industry Leader for sheepmeats, answered How, Why and When to tag for sheep NLIS at a forum that attracted over 100 interested Western sheepbreeders and agents.
Bill said that he was happy to have so many breeders question him closely, as all lambs born after 1/1/06 will need to be tagged once they leave the property of birth, unless they are going direct to an abbatoir.
However, this exemption will be reviewed in 2007.
Different coloured tags are available for each year of birth, and although it is not a requirement of NLIS in NSW, it is recommended that these colours be used, as they are a means to easily tell ages in the sale yards or in the draft.
Ian Lilburne kept the crowd's focus as he gave his view of the type of Merino that needs to be bred out west today to be profitable.
Ian said that no longer are the wool traits of our Merinos the primary focus of a breeding program.
We need to look at where the profit is generated in a Western Merino.
Fertility and good mothering ability, along with early maturity and a plainer-bodied, easier to shear sheep have all come into the equation of profitability.
Ian said that the Merino still has a rightful place out on the Western Hay Plains and beyond, but we will have to reassess what we have been doing as breeders for many years.
Ian introduced the new Alma Poll Merinos an example of the type of sheep he believes are needed to remain profitable in all seasonal and market conditions.
Elders BHK wool buyers emphasized that the wool market has recently had a genuine market increase, pushed along by competition from countries other than China, who has been taking the bulk of our wool recently.
Added competition was due to a very cold winter in Europe, along with a wool pipeline that was near empty.
The buyers expected better wool prices to continue, but did not foresee continued major rises in the wool market.
The Leader and Allflex tag representatives gave a hands-on demonstration of sheep tagging and showed their latest tags.
The NSWFA Oxley/Booligal Branch served a sit down lunch of Saltbush Kebabs, washed down with Alma Merino 'Triplets' Shiraz.