A switch to six-monthly shearing is paying dividends for Cudal, NSW, sheep producer Murray Balcomb, with an increase in wool quality and flock health.
According to Mr Balcomb, who runs the farm in partnership with his brother Charlie, the management change was prompted by price penalties received at auction for long wool.
"We introduced six-monthly shearing in 2016 as we were getting penalised because our 12 month wool clip was too long," he said.
"We looked at nine month shearing but couldn't get our heads around how it was going to work in our system."
The brothers own a 2300-hectare mixed farming operation, Woodbank, running a self-replacing flock of 1300 Merino ewes alongside 1200ha of wheat, barley, canola and chickpeas, as well as 400 Angus breeders.
Mr Balcomb admits he was surprised at how easy the transition was and continues to be impressed with the benefits shearing every six months has given his sheep operation.
The ewes are now shorn in December and June and are averaging 3.5 kilograms per head wool cut at each shearing with an average staple length of 65 millimetres, although it can vary from 60-73mm.
"It is interesting that in the June-December period the sheep seem to grow about 5-10mm more staple length, despite having a lamb during this time too, compared with the December-June period," he said.
"I'm not sure why, perhaps it is due to the spring flush of green grass.
"We've also found the sheep maintain their condition better year-round which has been a huge positive.
"The second shearing saves us a crutching and because we are shearing before lambing and joining, our conception and lambing rates have also improved."
The wool is marketed through Jemalong Wool at Forbes, NSW, and has been selling for between 1500 to 1800 cents a kilogram greasy.
With a focus on wool quality and performance, the brothers also made a switch to the Taylor family's Mumblebone stud genetics, based at Wellington, NSW, in 2013.
Mr Balcomb likes to use a combination of visual appraisal and Australian Sheep Breeding Values (ASBVs) for his ram selection.
"We like to buy Mumblebone rams which are above the stud's average for staple length, fleece weight, faecal worm egg count and post weaning weight," he said.
"As post weaning weight also has a strong strong correlation to fat depth and eye muscle depth, we'll also use them as a guide.
"But we always do a visual assessment for structure, frame and wool quality and see how it compares with the ASBVs."
Mr Balcomb prefers a traditional wool style which is tighter in the crimp and the flock average is 18.5 micron.
Ewes are joined in February to lamb in July and depending on the season, they may be supplemented with grain in self-feeders, if required pre-joining.
Although the brothers do not pregnancy scan, they have been really pleased with their weaning rates since changing to six-monthly shearing.
"We are getting unscanned weaning rates of 130 per cent per ewe joined which is fantastic and has definitely improved," he said.
"Next year we will introduce pregnancy scanning to better identify and manage twin-bearing ewes so it will be interesting to see what our actual conception rates are.
"Because the ewes are shorter in the wool, you just don't have many misses, the rams do a better job and the ewes are in better condition."
Minimal supplementary feeding is required through autumn, although during the past two tough seasons, Mr Balcomb has had to set up a containment area for the ewe lambs to help conserve the pastures for lambing ewes.
"It just takes the pressure off some of our paddocks and gives us some extra space, I would only ever lock up dry sheep," he said.
The ewe lambs are supplemented with barley and chickpea seconds, which the Balcombs had stored, in self-feeders as well as ad lib canola and cereal hay.
Prior to lambing, ewes are split into smaller mob sizes of 200 to 250 head to reduce mismothering and help with ease of handling. They lamb down in better quality pasture paddocks with plenty of shelter.
During the past year, the Balcombs have also moved to non-mulesing of their lambs and although they had a few challenges due to the season, they plan to continue.
"We were mulesing with pain-relief and just decided it wasn't necessary as it does give the lambs a check in their growth," he said.
"In 2016 and 2017 we did a very reduced mulesing and last year because we had to wean our lambs a lot earlier due to the season, we didn't want to be mulesing them so young.
"We did have a few more fly strikes while the lambs were growing into their bodies and as they adjusted to the supplementary feeding and we should have crutched them earlier than we did."
Mr Balcomb said they will continue to finetune their management of the non-mulesed lambs, applying chemical flystrike protection and crutching earlier and more often if required.
"It just means there is a bit more monitoring and management in the lamb's first 12 months, depending on the seasonal conditions," he said.
"But I think it's a process which is going to be taken away from the sheep industry due to animal welfare so we might as well be working towards it anyway."
The lambs are usually weaned in mid-October onto improved pasture paddocks with some barley supplementation in self-feeders to improve their growth rates.
All the lambs are shorn in March with the wether portion sold at about 11 months of age through the saleyards at Forbes or over the hooks, depending on the price.
"This year we sold them over the hooks to Thomas Foods International at Tamworth at an average of 26kg dressed weight as the grid was perfect for their weight range," he said.
The ewe lambs are classed before shearing in the following December.
Any ewes not retained in the flock are sold on AuctionsPlus.
"The tricky part with six-monthly shearing has been how to manage the ewe lambs in this period, but if they have their first shearing in March and then again in December, this brings them into line with the adult ewes," he said.