IT has been an unbelievable lambing season for many producers across SA with ewes in good condition at joining and very few cold snaps as lambs hit the ground which has maximised survival rates.
The biggest concern for many now is whether the season will be favourable enough to grow enough paddock feed to sustain these extra mouths.
The season is hanging in the balance for some and frosts have already slowed down pasture growth.
Despite another late break to the season in the Mid North, Talking Livestock consultant Deb Scammell says producers have largely experienced "above average" lambing percentages in the order of 5-10 per cent in their April/May lambers.
"There has been an incredible amount of supplementary feeding in the Mid North and Lower North feeding through lactation so the lambs are looking good," she said.
"We are only just seeing many start to drop their (feeding) rates as we're finally getting more than just a short green pick.
"There is a big split between those who have looked after their ewes though - one producer had over 130 per cent lambing across his twins and singles but his neighbour right next door only had a 70pc lambing."
Ms Scammell said some June lambing flocks had not been so fortunate with cold, wet conditions in the first few weeks of June exacerbating lamb losses. There was a big difference between properties with shelter compared to those that did not.
"Further north around Orroroo, some of the later lambers are selling off their scanned in-lamb ewes as it is dry again," she said.
Ms Scammell believes producers learned from their 2021 experiences - which was also a late break.
"Last year there were plenty of places with 4-5pc ewe mortality across their whole flock but this year we are not seeing that - most are at about 2pc, which is normal over lambing," she said.
"With the (high) cost of replacement ewes, you can soon pay for a fair bit of feed."
There has also been a long period of supplementary feeding in the Limestone Coast but Tailored Livestock Consulting's Ashlee Hunt says many sheep producers are being rewarded with 10pc higher lambing percentages than 2021, and in some cases as high as 20pc.
"The weather has favoured lamb survival but because it has been quite dry with limited paddock feed, producers have had ewes on full supplementary feed so they knew the diet was meeting their energy requirements," she said.
"In the better years, people often assume if the feed is green and growing, it is providing enough energy to the ewe but it is not always meeting their daily requirements."
Ms Hunt said producers were also relieved that there were fewer assisted births, in better years when pasture was lush it was hard to control overfeeding ewes in late pregnancy, which leads to pulling large lambs.
"Green feed also brings about nutrient challenges that can reduce smooth muscle contractions, resulting in assisted births," she said.
Much of the Limestone Coast is tracking at below average winter rainfall and she said some farmers were considering early weaning lambs, generally at 12-14 weeks of age, if the season remained dry.
"We have been discussing with a few clients that if it doesn't rain by a certain date we will early wean to focus on putting energy into lambs,": she said.
"They have done the hard work feeding through autumn, it would be nice if everyone could get a good flush of green feed and get a break."
PPHS's Pinnaroo-based livestock agent Paul Kinnaird said there had been mixed fortunes in the Mallee with eastern areas including Pinnaroo, Murrayville and up to Loxton and Renmark, enjoying "fantastic" percentages, compared with 2021.
"We have been quite lucky on the eastern part of the Mallee. We had good rains in May and so there was good green feed for the ewes during lactation," he said.
"Almost all the percentages have been quite good, I have been hearing 90 percentages but the tops of the tops are 130-140pc out of Merinos."
However heading west, particularly in Geranium, Parrakie, Marama and Halidon, which had a much later break, percentages were generally back.
"The paddock feed is starting to get away in all areas, there are some people who have been able to take their stock off grain and hay and put them into good pastures but now it has come in cold and we have had a few frosts," he said.
Nutrien Port Augusta branch manager Cameron Paul said many pastoralists would not be marking until the end of the month but were hopeful of good lambing rates to accelerate their flock rebuilds.
He said stations in the Gawler Ranges and north west pastoral areas were having their best season in years and reporting good numbers of lambs near watering points.
"We still saw 80pc and 90pc cent last year, hopefully we might be able to get 100pc this time," he said.
But Mr Paul said the season was again "hanging in the balance" in the southern Flinders Ranges.
He was already having discussions with clients about offloading some ewes with lambs if they didn't receive decent falls in the coming month.
'BEST EVER' LAMBING PERCENTAGES FOR UPPER SE STUD
At Paxton studs at Western Flat, it has been a very busy time couple of months for the Harvey family, weighing and tagging more than 1400 stud lambs and a few more Border Leicester ewes still to lamb.
Stud principal Martin Harvey says it is their "best ever" lambing rates with "exceptional" weather for lambing playing a big part in reducing lamb losses.
"We are at 185pc for pregnant ewes in our Borders - normally our best results are 170pc - and in our White Suffolks and Poll Dorsets we finished up at 170pc, compared to 155-160pc," he said. "It is normally pretty cold and wet, especially when the Borders are lambing."
Mr Harvey says the outstanding percentages will enable him and his wife Kirsty and their children Will, Zoe and Lilly, to make greater selection pressure in their stud.
The lambs have also been good weights, the majority four to six kilograms.
"Six kilograms is a pretty hefty lamb but the ewes are doing a great job, we might have pulled one out of 600 lambs born and that's it," he said.
Paxton has been using Regulin, an implant of melatonin, in their Border Leicester ewes to bring their lambing season closer to the two prime lamb breeds.
"It means I am not chasing lambs for five months and the rams are a bit more sexually mature by the time we sell them," he said.
The Harveys also had a great result in their commercial first-cross ewe flock, marking 147pc from nearly 1000 ewes.
They are very much hoping for an "above average" spring to grow some paddock feed with only 160 millimetres falling for the year so far.
"If we are to get close to average (500mm rainfall) it will need to be a really wet spring," he said.
"In our commercial sheep we are looking at weaning the lambs early if the season is too tight, looking after our ewes is the most important thing to get them back in lamb."
