D o rp e rn uus • D o rp ernews 2 0 1 2 - Dorper SA

Dorpernuus • Dorper news 2012
trade-offs of easy-care sheep that are less susceptible
to fly strike and worms, need less feeding and are bred
for high clean fleece weight and low fibre diameter,” he
said.
Gus grew up on a sheep-cropping property at Williams,
south-east of Perth, and has witnessed significant
change during the past 20 years.
Broadacre farms have ballooned in size yet fallen in
number, leaving fewer people – particularly in remote
areas – to do more work. According to Gus, a 2007
Rabobank survey of WA producers reported that almost
half of its participants had increased their own working
hours to solve their farm’s labour crises.
“This trend is common in isolated rural areas across
Australia. I think if you were able to decrease the
amount of work required for sheep, then you would
be able to increase the profit and the quality of life of
sheep farmers, regardless of their other enterprises,” he
said.
The need to manage larger farms with less labour,
combined with increased profits from cropping, caused
sheep numbers in Western Australia to fall by more
than 40 % between 1990 and 2005.
“There’s no doubt cropping has become more popular
than sheep, with the introduction of herbicides,
minimum tillage, improved and new crop varieties,
while sheep technology has remained relatively
stagnant,” Gus said.
“This, combined with a loss of skills particularly in
the younger generation, means that many sheep
enterprises are running well below their potential.”
Gus, who has also studied how labour shortages impact
on farm profit on mixed sheep-crop farms, found that
the labour requirement for sheep was much higher than
for cropping. He also found that it was not profitable to
hire labour for sheep management on crop dominant
farms, with casual labour during seeding and harvest
being the most profitable labour type.
For producers who preferred cropping, Gus suggested
outsourcing sheep management to someone who
already manages several sheep properties or to a
contracted company.
“At this stage, there is still resistance to this idea, but
there’s no doubt that sheep producers Australia-wide
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would benefit from improved livestock management
efficiencies, such as improving genetics to produce
‘easy care’ sheep that require less supplementary
feeding, crutching, jetting and monitoring,” he said.
Andrew and Gus agreed that although their research
suggested a range of management recommendations,
producers should interpret them in the context of their
own enterprises and environments.
“I think this research shows there’s no right answer for
the industry – just the right answer for individuals,”
Andrew said.
“When producers have that knowledge, they can begin
to push their stocking rates with confidence in the
outcomes. Knowledge also helps people to understand
their limits.
Key points
• Larger mature ewe size can be a potential problem
and an important factor affecting whole farm
profitability.
• Conversely, having ewes that are too small can make
it difficult to finish lambs.
• Bio economic modeling indicates that the most
profitable-sized ewe was 60 – 70 kg.
• Improving genetics to produce ‘easy care’ sheep is
one way of reducing the labour component of the
sheep industry.
Table 1 Bio-economic modeling of a self-replacing
Merino enterprise producing slaughter lambs in
Victoria’s Western District explored the relationship
between ewe size and profit (2011)
Mature Gross Ewe Lamb Gross margin ($/ha) for
ewe size margin feed cost feed cost different stocking
(kg) ($/ha)1 ($/ha)1 ($/ha)1 rates (ewes/ha)
8 10 12 14
50 543 73 143 391 497 594 689
60 686 93 48 518 642 765 820
70 703 112 13 567 700 784 787
80 666 150 9 578 694 731 661
1 Values are for 11 ewes/ha, 110 % reproductive rate
and 85 % weaning rate