Transition from wool to sheep meat – What options do you have? Sell existing stock - purchase Dorper rams and F2 Dorper ewes Upgrade - purchase Dorper rams and upgrade the existing Merino ewe base F1 Dorper rams - appears to be a less costly option but is not viable F1 rams 1/3rd the price cf. pure ($350 vs $1400) In any cross breeding system the continued input of purebred animals is required. Under this scenario, progression to a shedding meat animal is not possible. Revenue from wool will be foregone no additional income or reduced costs realised This option is not viable and therefore was not considered in the analysis

Consider the genetics….impacts on management % of Flock Requiring Shearing Year Dorper/Merino Dorper/F2 1 100 (100)* 100 2 100 (63)* 3 100 (12)* 74 4 26 5 94 23 6 68 7^ 25 8 F1 50/50 F2 75/25 F3 87.5/12.5 F4 93.75/6.25 No shearing from F4 F4 = no shear – proportion of Dorper genetics in each cross *= % of Merino ewe in flock – value wool income – when merino base gone shearing for no significant wool $ - utility vs labour factors ^ all ewes F3 or greater by 7 years Loss of yearly wool cheque

Source: http://cashdown.com.au Shearing vs Shedding When can you stop shearing? - Doper sire – 8th year - F2/Dorper sire – 6th year Heritability of shedding - shedding score (1-5) h2 0.54 - selection shedding vs economically important traits Also consider… Dark Medulated fibre (DMF) - DMFRS - Bale descriptions Y K R Shedding – major gene – autosomal dominant mode of inheritance - variation in speed & extent of shedding - Study just released (Pollott UK) h2 limited 11% don’t exhibit trait as lambs Shedding score h2 0.54 lambs -2yo (but 0.26 older animas) moderate to high heritability – you can select for it but Phenotypic correlation lambs cf. 2 yo 0.34 moderate (26/42 shed 12 unknown) 2 levels – introduction of shedding gene followed by selection No ASBV’s for shedding ability. Wool contamination - preliminary studies found no difference in DMF MF between groups 8 weeks after contact ceases DMFRS Bale descriptions Y=visible BF K= visible MF R=run with shedding breeds Source: http://cashdown.com.au

Risks and Benefits sensitivity infrastructure performance data - drought, price fluctuations infrastructure performance data - anecdotal evidence - ASBV Dorper $ Index organic production - price premiums - product quality, supply chain, markets Dorper $ - increase overall profitability of meat production in self-replacing flock -pure-bred or up-grading

References Cloete, S. W. P., M. A. Snyman, et al. (2000). Productive performance of Dorper sheep. Small Ruminant Research 36(2): 119- 135. DPI (2011) <http://www.dpi.nsw.gov.au/agriculture/farm- business/budgets/livestock> Pollott, G.E. (2011). A suggested mode of inheritance for wool shedding in sheep. Journal of Animal Science: (89) 8. Rose, M. and Bright, R.L. and Quigley, S.P. and Kleemann, D.O. (2000) Fibre Transfer in Merino Ewes Mated with Damara, Merino or Dorper Rams in Central Western Queensland. In: Animal Production for a Consuming World. AAAP-ASAP Conference, 2nd - 7th July, Sydney, Australia. Sheep Genetics (2011) http://www.sheepgenetics.org.au/ Snyman, M. A. and M. J. Herselman (2005). Comparison of productive and reproductive efficiency of Afrino, Dorper and Merino sheep in the False Upper Karoo. South African Journal of Animal Science 35(2): 98-108