A focus on breeding sheep that produce wool more likely to be used in undergarments and sportswear, and not just turning out quality rams for regular buyers, has proved a great strategy for Radnor Merino Stud owners, brothers Steve and Brett Koehler.
The Langhorne Creek operation has consistently reached above evaluation prices for their wool, mostly sold through Elders, and Steve puts that down to breeding for a wool that’s bright white with good crimping characteristics and that has “elasticity”.
“Wool at 20 microns … soft handling and bright white is what we produce,’’ he said.
“The ideal stuff for undergarments and sportswear. That’s where the money is.’’
He praised the Merinos, saying they had proved themselves as a durable sheep that are hardy, have good constitution and are early maturing.
The ideal stuff for undergarments and sportswear. That’s where the money is.
- Steve Koehler
“We’ve tried first crosses and they didn’t go as well as the Merinos. With Merinos, so long as you’re breeding for width of barrel and constitution, they’ll serve you well.
“The demand is there for their wool and I can’t see that wavering in the near future,’’ he said.
“Most of our wool is sold through Elders. They send us an appraisal and we always seem to get a price that is above the evaluation.
“We had a record price for our wool last year at 1540 cents a kilogram and it’s been said the price is now $3/kg better than what we sold at last year.
“We got 1000c/kg for pieces last year and we will be looking at 1300c/kg this year.’’
But Steve says every bit extra is going to be of help given the season at his place is the worst he has seen in his 40 years of farming there.
The Koehlers run 2000 breeding ewes and carry a total stock of 3000 Merino and Poll Merinos across 2800 hectares at Langhorne Creek and Brinkley, and also have up to 1800 lambs at this time of year.
Four years ago they made an investment in a new shearing shed at the Langhorne Creek property to make life a bit easier.
“We were transporting anything up to 1800 sheep here for shearing which was not the most efficient way to do things,’’ Steve said.
Brett said the cropping season was very challenging.
“We’ve got 647 hectares of crops in this year, less than usual, and I don’t know if we’ll reap anything yet,’’ Brett said. “There’s a chance we might get a bit of barley but it’s not looking great.’’
The sell off of 500 hoggets, 450 wethers and 350 ewes will help at Radnor, where hay and grain will need to be bought to supplement feed supplies.
Radnor clients have also been affected by the season, including a large buyer at Broken Hill, NSW, who this year won’t take any due to the drought.
Bryan Littlely
Started with Fairfax (Rural Press) as a compositor in 1992 at the Victor Harbor Times and progressed to journalism as a cadet and then on to editor at The Barossa & Light Herald. After 8 years with Rural Press, joined News Corp as a journalist at The Advertiser. I held various senior positions at The Advertiser including Regional Editor, Motoring Editor, Chief Of Staff and Investigations Editor. My time with News Corp also included an 18 month secondment to the Northern Territory as Editor at the Centralian Advocate, Alice Springs. After a year working as assistant director of media with the Fair Work Ombudsman and a year at the helm of a public relations firm, I have returned to my farming background and home community on the Fleurieu Peninsula. I am co-founder of missing persons foundation, Leave A Light On Inc, and am also on the board of Indigenous foundation Around The Campfire. Local sport and community activities, horse racing and learning what I can about farming are my key interests outside of journalism.
Started with Fairfax (Rural Press) as a compositor in 1992 at the Victor Harbor Times and progressed to journalism as a cadet and then on to editor at The Barossa & Light Herald. After 8 years with Rural Press, joined News Corp as a journalist at The Advertiser. I held various senior positions at The Advertiser including Regional Editor, Motoring Editor, Chief Of Staff and Investigations Editor. My time with News Corp also included an 18 month secondment to the Northern Territory as Editor at the Centralian Advocate, Alice Springs. After a year working as assistant director of media with the Fair Work Ombudsman and a year at the helm of a public relations firm, I have returned to my farming background and home community on the Fleurieu Peninsula. I am co-founder of missing persons foundation, Leave A Light On Inc, and am also on the board of Indigenous foundation Around The Campfire. Local sport and community activities, horse racing and learning what I can about farming are my key interests outside of journalism.
