BRENTON Mosey recognises the value of his Merino flock and it is easy to see why his sheep enterprise is one of the top performers in a Lower, Mid and Upper North benchmarking group.
Last year, Mr Mosey and his wife Fiona, Ngapala, near Eudunda, achieved a gross margin of $56 dry sheep equivalent. This was assisted by their best-ever lambing percentage - 119 per cent across the flock including maidens, and strong sheep and wool sales.
The Mosoona Family Trust sheep enterprise comprises 2350 ewes, with two-thirds a self-replacing Merino flock and the remaining third mated to White Suffolk rams.
For the past two years they have bought Merino rams from Scottdale at Brady Creek, and before this from Springvale North.
A self-replacing Merino flock gives them the advantage of breeding their own replacements and continually improving the wool quality and cut which averages 7 kilograms.
The Merino and crossbred flocks are lambed-down in April.
The crossbred lambs are sold as suckers by late August, and the Merino wether lambs are shorn in September with the main shearing, and sold in November. For the past three years they have been sold on AuctionsPlus.
In 2014 they averaged 45kg liveweight and averaged $77.
The ewe portion of the drop, which are surplus to replacement, are sold as hoggets the following October, attracting strong demand from breeders.
Mr Mosey says having wool and meat income "enables the family to spread risk".
"The core of our business is wool production but producing wether lambs has been a major earner," he said.
"The wool market has risen and everything is looking good in China from a supply-and-demand view with no large stockpile."
"It is looking great for the sheep industry. We locked-in some lambs with TFI at $6/kg at the end of August. Last year it was $5.20/kg, so we are up 80 cents/kg."