A radical plan to take advantage of the drought to boost long term wool industry income by hundreds of millions of dollars a year has been put forward by the Sheep Cooperative Research Centre. “The top sheep in any flock are three times more profitable than the poorer ones. If you have to cull due to drought, technology is now available to help you get rid of the least profitable ones,” says Sheep CRC CEO Professor James Rowe.
“While drought is a heavy blow to the bank balance in the short term, it is also a rare opportunity to set up the grazing enterprise - and the industry - for much greater profits in future by doubling the returns from individual animals.” The difference between this drought and any other in history is that, for the first time, woolgrowers have technology available to make objective culling decisions – and buy in the most productive animals when re-stocking, he says.
“With feed the main limiting factor it is time to assess what animals will do the best job during the drought and in post-drought recovery. In this respect Merino ewes have a stand-out advantage over cattle and sheepmeat systems, where weight gain is the only way to generate income.
“The Merino ewe will continue to produce valuable wool daily – even when she's losing weight. During drought recovery she also provides the flexibility of producing either prime lambs or more fine wool offspring. Producers with mixed sheep and cattle grazing operations are already considering which animals to keep through the drought. For a faster recovery, there may be value in moving out of cattle and into sheep, Prof Rowe suggests. “In dry times, a carefully-selected ewe flock may well be the most valuable livestock asset.”
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