NEARLY a decade after the ground-breaking project Lifetime Wool kicked off on David Robertson’s Austral Park property at Tarrenlea, the sheep producer declares the positive effects are still unraveling.
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“It really has predicted our results more accurately,” Mr Robertson said - who runs a wool and prime lamb operation on sloping hill country, dotted with majestic Red Gums, west of Hamilton.
Performance was no longer left up to the weather, he said, likening the fundamental principles of the Lifetime Wool project to precision farming in cropping.
“We now know the exact nutritional requirements of each sheep and how that animal will perform,” he said.
For Mr Robertson, the most valuable message gained from the Australian Wool Innovation (AWI)-funded project was to treat his sheep as individuals.
“We draft our ewes by condition score after weaning, and then we give them the exact amount of feed they require according to their condition score.”
The original project - which aimed to optimise the performance of Merino ewes - recorded a range of data for three years, including condition score, feed levels and birth weight.
It looked at how ewes performed in different feed situations and the effect nutrition had on survivability and lifetime performance of the progeny.
The project discovered that by having the ewe in the right condition at the right time - reproduction levels, lamb survival and wool production were all improved.
“We are utilising pastures much more efficiently by only giving extra feed to the animals that require it.”
“We are also spending less on drenching, because the higher nutrition ewes have a greater resistance to worms.”
Noting some of the other benefits, Mr Robertson said both the ewe and her progeny’s wool is finer, with a heavier clip. The project found a higher nutrition ewe during pregnancy produced a lamb with more secondary wool follicles, which improved wool production overall.
It was so successful an additional program was soon initiated to encourage uptake of the project’s principles called Lifetime Ewe Management.
“The uptake by the sheep farmers was fantastic and I was lucky to be involved with the research from the very beginning,” he said.
One of the biggest changes in farming methods at Austral Park besides a management change was a change in language, he continued.
“Everything is more precise now. We now refer to the amount of feed in kilograms of dry matter and the quality in digestibility, as well as the ewe’s requirements in megajoules of energy.”
“Things were pretty basic before.
“It’s very encouraging to hear people talking in a more precise language.”
The skills gained from the project have been wide-ranging and include hands-on condition scoring and pasture quality assessment.
“I’ve learnt how to determine a sheep’s energy requirements and can convert that to feed,” he said.
He says single-bearing ewes on a good quality pasture need approximately 1000 kilograms of dry matter to adequately carry them through their gestation period, while multiple-bearing ewes need 1400kgDM.
“Birth weight is a critical factor, because by feeding the ewes the correct amount of feed their lambs have a greater chance of survival by reaching the minimum birth weight of 3.8kg,” he said.
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