JD-Kid
Member
- Location
- Akaroa.. New Zealand
a few shearers go on about 70 kg ewes they love shearing here with avg ewe weight around 70 a few big girls up around 80-90 thoIts all about efficiency. Profitability can be described as the payment retained from being efficient. Every farm has an ideal carrying capacity (stocking rate/ha) determined by early spring carrying capacity (pasture growth). Why have 100kg+ ewes running at two thirds of the ewe numbers of 65 - 70 kg ewes with the genetics to at least produce the same weaning %, therefore more lambs and many more kgs of lamb per ha. A ewe only works hard from late pregnancy to about 8 weeks post lambing. That's about 3 months, so maintenance requirements for the other 9 months is proportionately high compared to the total kgs of saleable lamb.
Pasture is expensive stuff, but is the cheapest feed. Getting more into production than maintenance use increases efficiency, hence profit.
Growing out to 100kg+ and maintaining it consumes huge quantities of DM and maybe concentrates. That could be great for egos, but not for future commercial sheep farming in the face of declining subs. and where we may now be in the current price cycle.
Expect ewe shearing rates to be closer to ram shearing for such heavy ewes too.
the lighter ones around 55 tend to have a higher % of singles. seems to be a sweet spot for us scanning around 170