Minimal inputs, high returns with Aussie Whites

The Armours run about 800 ewes on 434 hectares of mostly hilly country at Marelma, between Gundagai and Tumut.

They've bred Aussie Whites since 2012, beginning a shift away from a traditional Merino operation.

"We were in fine wool production and with the wool prices the way they were, and because we couldn't get the lambing percentage up, we felt we were going backwards so we decided to make the change," Mr Armour said.

"We went from growing wool to buying in Merino ewes and putting a Poll Dorset ram over them, but the best scanning we could get was 85 per cent and finishing our lambs as stores, not fat."

The flock is entirely Tattykeel bloodlines, with the Armours buyng about four rams a year.

While they're not looking to rebuild flock numbers right away, as the country is still recovering from drought, as well as fire in 2014 that burnt out the entire property, the shift to Aussie Whites means Mr Armour will be able to grow the flock quickly.

He was running up to 1100 ewes prior to the drought.

"We're joining our ewes from seven to nine months of age, so some of them have a lamb on the ground at 12 months. The breed opens itself up to join three times in two years, and we're going to make some changes and see if we can give that a go."

Maiden ewes are scanning at 90pc, while the older ewes are around 92pc to 95pc, with a number of those joined with lambs at foot.

"The maiden ewes lambing at 12 months don't have a problem, they're unbelievable mothers," Mr Armour said.

"You can lamb Aussie Whites at any time of the year, and the lamb is up and walking aorund within five minutes.

"We're getting 125pc to 130pc lambing from the older ewes, and we're looking to improve that by scanning for multiples and selecting twinning ewes to increase numbers. For now, we're concentrating on getting through the crosses to make the flock pure."

The lambs can be turned off with minimal inputs.

"We start selling lambs mid August and we're getting 80pc straight off mum in a normal season, hitting 44 kilograms to 48kg at 3.5 to five months," Mr Armour said.

"If you can sell them off mum, in a good season they're dressing around 55 per cent and hitting the 24kg to 26kg carcase mark.

"That's just on native pastures. They're good feed converters. They can live on nothing and they get minimal supplementary feeding.

"We just trail a bit of grain prior to lambing and we'll wean the others onto improved pasture until sale. Generally it's only six weeks and they're quite heavy."

The Armours aim to sell over the hook, but they're open to the prime market as well as AuctionsPlus.

Their most recent online sale of four-year-old ewes and lambs a few weeks ago resulted in a record for commercial ewes for the breed, with the 151 ewes and lambs making $516 a unit.

"They had 127pc marked lambs at foot, from three to 10 weeks, and the tops of the lambs were around 30kg," Mr Armour said.

"It's worth seeing what the market is like at any time, because we could be waiting until spring to get $225 for the lamb, but we'd rather take it now and give the paddocks a spell."

Graham Armour describes him as the go-to man for Aussie Whites, and agent Craig Pellow, QPL Rural, Temora says the breed is in demand in the region as sheep breeders look for a highly productive, low maintenance option to Merinos or composite sheep.

Mr Armour's recording setting ewes and lambs, which recently sold for $516 a unit over AuctionsPlus, had plenty of interested buyers.

"We had about 20 phone calls on those sheep, then the losing bidder rang me and said he's keen to take the sheep if the sale falls through," Mr Pellow said.

Mr Pellow said there's constant demand for Aussie Whites, as they lend themselves to smaller blocks, as well as large-scale prime lamb operations.

"I would get half a dozen phonecalls from breeders every week, wanting me to line up private sales in the paddock.

"The traditional Merino breeders are sticking with wool, but the ones that are really hurting are the composite breeders, because the wool cheque isn't cover shearing costs."