Beyond the Bale - Issue 25 - Merinos stack up in the profit stakes
Ask Forbes woolgrower Glen Rubie (pictured right with wife Margot, children and Challenge-winning flock), about the profitability of Merino sheep and his eyes glint. The key to Mr Rubie's smile is that Merino sheep are proving their value not just in wool, but in producing profitable prime lambs.
Farming on the Lachlan River, in a ‘normal' year Glen and Margot Rubie produce lucerne, lucerne seed and hay under irrigation as well as running a flock of about 1200 Merino ewes, including their Lachlan Merino stud.
"We've always been passionate about our wool, but we also want big sheep," Mr Rubie says.
The flock lambs in July/August and the lambs are shorn the following April/May with nine to 10 months' wool. The bare-shorn wether portion of the flock is then fattened for six to eight weeks before being sold.
The wethers are finished on lucerne if irrigation is available, but in recent years have been finished on grain. The fattened wethers still have their lamb's teeth and are sold over the hooks or through the Forbes Midstate saleyards.
In the past four years, the Rubies' off-shears Merino wether lambs have averaged $95 (2003), $128 (2004), $98 (2005) and $87 (2006). This year, the wether lambs sold six to eight weeks off-shears had already cut an average of 5.8kg of 18.2 micron wool, worth more than $26 a head.
The only wether lambs not included in the average were the lambs entered in the two pens of three wethers at the inaugural Merino Wether Lamb Challenge.
The Rubies' two pens came first and second in terms of overall value and the whole six averaged a 41.26kg carcase dressed with a 49.9 per cent yield. When their carcase value was combined with their fleece value, the Rubies' winning pen of wethers returned a staggering $153.54 a head. Their second-placed pen averaged a value of $150.05 a head.
"They were the heaviest lambs and had the highest fleece weight, value and the top carcase in the trial, which was very satisfying," Mr Rubie says. "We've always selected for big sheep with great wool and select our rams at 12 months so we get an early-maturing, long-bodied type."
The Rubies previously ran a mix of crossbred and Merinos, but offloaded the crossbred sheep in favour of Merinos. "It's clear we can make more money from Merinos," Mr Rubie says. "Crossbred sheep eat their heads off – we can run more Merino ewes per hectare than crossbred ewes and make more money per hectare.
"Merinos have the flexibility of the wool and the lamb – you don't get that flexibility with crossbreds. It's all about breeding the right sort of sheep and you don't need to go outside the Merino breed to do it."
More information: Glen Rubie, 02 6857 2118
Return to Beyond the Bale issue 25 index page.