IMPROVED ewe management has contributed to a lift in lamb marking rates in the Australian sheep flock of nearly 10 per cent in the past decade.
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But Vic-based sheep consultant Jason Trompf challenged producers to maintain the momentum.
Lamb losses still cost about $500 million a year in potential revenue.
Speaking at the Animal Production 2016 conference in Adelaide last week, Dr Trompf said the industry had been at a “serious intersection” in the late 1990s, losing one in three lambs. Producers knew the cause of death in less than 10pc of them and ewe mortality was 5pc.
An increased emphasis on reproduction performance in the past decade as well as a run of better seasons had produced a more positive story.
Figures compiled by Kimbal Curtis from Livestock Dynamics in WA based on a range of industry data show the average marking rates – which had been unchanged from 2002-03 to 2006-07 at 81pc – had lifted to 90pc by June 2015.
SA had risen 9pc to 95pc, Vic lifted 7pc to 93pc, NSW had a 10pc lift to 90pc and WA rose 6pc to 86pc.
A doubling of the number of non-Merino ewes accounted for about one-third of the gains.
But a greater understanding of the role of ewe nutrition in lamb survival and producer education through Ewe Time forums and Making More from Sheep, Bred Well Fed Well and Lifetime Ewe Management programs had made a huge difference.
About 3300 sheep producers who manage 10 million ewes – one quarter of the national flock, have undertaken the LEM course. These producers had lifted their stocking rates from 9-10 dry sheep equivalent per hectare and weaning rates from 96pc to 105pc. At the same time ewe mortality dropped 30pc from 4.1pc to 2.9pc through management changes.
Dr Trompf said it showed producers could “have their cake and eat it too”, with increased productivity but also good animal welfare.
“There are a couple of consultants in our industry who say you cannot increase stocking rates and marking rates simultaneously – well absolutely you can,” he said.
“No longer is the story put them on as thick as you can stick at low cost of production and watch the ewe and the lamb perish. That is not where the Australian sheep industry proudly is. We have graduated well beyond that.”
He said those producers who considered LEM a “fat ewe project” had missed the message of optimal allocation of feed to foetal loading.
Three “absolute musts” advocated for maternal and non-maternal ewe breeds were condition scoring, identifying ewes carrying multiple lambs through pregnancy scanning and feed budgeting based on ewe energy requirements.
Seventy per cent of lamb survival was governed by birthweight - ideally 8pc of standard reference weight of a ewe. This was about 4 kilograms. Below this critical weight lamb losses markedly increase.
In his own flock at Glenrowan, Dr Trompf had reduced lamb losses from 28pc to 12pc in 2015 and he knew producers who were achieving 10pc losses. This is similar to European Union farmers with intensively managed flocks.
“I can tell you how much smaller that (dead) pile is and I am absolutely obsessed like many others in this room with reducing that further,” he said.
He challenged the sheep industry to aim for the 1pc annual gain in lamb marking rates to 2020 outlined in the Sheep Industry Strategic Plan. Industry progress should be shared with the wider community.
“We must connect and share our story because if we don’t others will on our behalf,” he said.
“I reckon lamb survival in the Australian sheep industry is one that we can base that on. There is a lot of nervousness about that but at the end of the day people know what is happening out there and our producers know what is happening out there as custodians of the flock.”
