The Challenge Maintaining ewe and lamb performance while increasing stocking rate 50%

Past Production Home June dse – 470cows/ 5000 ewes Lambing June Buying in 1 st cross ewes

Need for change Sheep boom Land price dissociated from return Had to chase profitability to justify land price Depreciation on sheep trading hit $10/ dse

Key changes Mapped pasture curve to match feed demand to pasture supply Changed calving to July/August in 2005 Maternal rams used over 1 st cross ewes Scanned for twins

ewes, 600 cows and Lifetime Ewe (LTEM) Group of 5 local producers Condition scoring & ME budgeting

Comparing 03/04 (5000 ewes) to 2010/11 (7800 ewes) 03/0410/11 (with 03/04 lamb price) Income/ ha$528 ($81/lamb) $710 ($74/lamb) Enterprise expense/ ha$111$182 Gross margin /ha$417$528

What I’ve learned Scanning is one of the best management tools available Better to feed early and often – even throughout lambing Lamb twin bearing ewes in small mobs Proactive management of ewe condition is critical

Conclusion Significant lift in stocking rate and gross margin is possible without large per head performance penalties provided ME budgets are adhered to.

Acknowledgements Ian, Jan and George Harvey David Rendell Darren Gordon Jason Trompf