THE lack of premiums for fine wool was the instigator for one young Tasmanian farmer to delve into Dohnes.
While still in the trial stages of introducing the breed to his traditional fine wool Merino flock, Russell Fowler is confident he is on the right track.
“There’s no premium in the fine wool market now, we’ve got the ability to finish lambs and we’re looking at the best way to utilise our fodder crops,” he said.
Mr Fowler and his family operate across six farms comprising 4000 hectares in the Ouse district.
They join 6000 Merino and first-cross ewes, finish 3500 lambs, run 1000 wethers and 170 cattle, and also grow about 100ha of poppies.
Last year, they joined 300 ewes to Dohne rams.
But instead of just joining his ewes and hoping for the best, Mr Fowler is running his own small trial.
“We bought some Uardry Dohne ewes, and got 100 of our best Merino ewes, 100 of the Dohnes and 100 first-crosses and put in electronic ID tags,” he said.
“We’re going to mother them all up and then follow them through when we put them onto the fodder crops, follow their weight gains and then compare them.”
Mr Fowler said traditionally, they ran ewes with “particularly fine” 16- to 17-micron fleeces.
“We’re dealing with a very small ewe, while the Dohnes are quite large and framey,” he said.
“And we still want to keep the wool characteristics, which the Dohnes do.”
Essentially, he said, they were trying to increase the body size of their ewes and result in a low-care animal.
“Even in the first-cross, the hoggets are a lot larger and a lot less maintenance.”
Mr Fowler said the Dohnes also seemed to be “more endurable” than a fine-wool Merino.
“In our country we have a protein shortage during January-February, and they seem to handle that time a lot better than the Merinos,” he said.
“The Dohne can store fat on its body which helps maintain it throughout the year.”
* Full report in Stock Journal, July 24, 2014 issue.