The relative profitability of Dorpers inspired one Iron Triangle farmer to invest in the breed.
Bruce Nutt, Port Augusta, SA, runs a large commercial sheep operation across four stations.
The main Dorper property, Coondambo, covers 320,000 hectares and is 230km north of Port Augusta.
He bought the property - which ran Merinos for more than 100 years - in 2014 to convert it into a Dorper operation, which took two years.
The property has 20,000 Dorper and White Dorper ewes, and Mr Nutt would like to increase the flock.
Mr Nutt invested in Dorpers for their low maintenance and economic benefits.
“Meat is more valuable than wool,” he said.
Mr Nutt said the season to date had been perfect, with good summer and autumn rains.
Mr Nutt uses a fencing program including a cyclone with a barbed wire on top to help guide the animals in his paddocks, and minimise the opportunity for them to knock the infrastructure down.
Mr Nutt said Dorpers were good foragers and ate the native grasses on paddocks.
Lambs are sold when they are seven months old.
Ewes are joined to rams continuously.
Mr Nutt isn’t reliant on the weather to determine joining, and he saw that as an advantage to maximise his profits.
“That’s the advantage of running Dorpers,” he said.
“You don’t have to set lambing around a shearing operation, which costs a lot”.
One ram runs with 40 ewes per joining season. The pregnancy success rate is about 90 per cent, and the lambing percentage is 150pc.
Mr Nutt musters three times a year and says he marks 60pc every time.
“We make sure the sheep have a good structure so they can walk well,” he said.
“Because they’re so fat, they have a lot of weight on them, so you have to have good feet.”
The culling rate is about 15pc.
“We get so many lambs I can just cull and sell.”
As there is no set joining season on the property, Mr Nutt ensures the animals are always in good condition for successful pregnancy.
He looks for traits such as good feet and wool shedding abilities.
“I look for good shape, plenty of meat, and I observe their width and length,” he said.
Mr Nutt said there was no set marketing plan.
“I sell mostly to meatworks because the sheep are always prime; there is no finishing required,” he said.
“It’s been a good experience going into Dorpers.”
Animals are sold at a dressed weight between 22 to 25 kilogram. He has been fetching about $125 per animal.
