9 hour lamb shearing record.

JD-Kid

Member
Its 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.
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 tho
the lighter ones around 55 tend to have a higher % of singles. seems to be a sweet spot for us scanning around 170
 
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 tho
the lighter ones around 55 tend to have a higher % of singles. seems to be a sweet spot for us scanning around 170


Forward store + ewes (BCS 3) certainly don't have the sharp corners, sit and comb better than thinner ewes.
Lighter ewes of the same breeding will shed fewer eggs (so do obese ewes) as every extra kg of mating weight is worth 2.1% more eggs shed, i.e. a mob that is 5kgs heavier will scan about 10% more lambs (empties excluded as they are mainly disease related).
 

jellybean

Member
Location
N.Devon
I spent a few hours at the record attempt yesterday as I had something else to do at Matt's farm. The sheer physical fitness and effort required goes without saying but I think the bit that people may not realise is the mental challenge to keep going through the tough spots.
Mind you as with anything that happens at Trefranck farm failure is never on the list of options! Well deserved congratulations to Stuart.

Another thing that struck me was the preponderance of young people there, well a lot younger than me anyway. It makes me wonder whether the perceived image of farming folk being mostly oldies is skewed because the young ones are just getting on with it and far less likely to be spending their time on TFF and such.
 

shearerlad

Member
Livestock Farmer
A huge effort by Stuart and his team yesterday, the physical and mental fitness to take on and beat such a challenge is incomprehensible to most people, added with the emotion of what they have gone through as a family.

As a side note, I watched a video of Edsel Fordes ewe record from the mid 90s, he had physio from the All Blacks World Cup team to SA. It was reckoned that Edsel was fitter than all but 1 of the team.
 

tepapa

Member
Livestock Farmer
Location
North Wales
A huge effort by Stuart and his team yesterday, the physical and mental fitness to take on and beat such a challenge is incomprehensible to most people, added with the emotion of what they have gone through as a family.

As a side note, I watched a video of Edsel Fordes ewe record from the mid 90s, he had physio from the All Blacks World Cup team to SA. It was reckoned that Edsel was fitter than all but 1 of the team.
Did you watch the video with Peter black on shed talk the other day? He said they took blood samples on Dwayne during one of the records and did tests etc during each break, when the scientists looked at the results they asked if he was superman 😆.
 
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tr250

Member
Location
Northants
You're pissing money away running 100kgs commercial ewes. They take so much more keeping for 0 extra returns.



And as a shearer, a day on them trying to do decent numbers f**king kills you
Ha yea I know we shear them ourselves.
probable needs a thread to itself they are big ewes but not all over 100 kg but I’d argue they milk well getting feb born lambs away early with no creep so we got no lambs eating grass from July onwards and ewes shut up very tight letting cows have the grass when they need it. Maybe even eat less per kg lamb sold than keeping lambs about all year
 

Nithsdale

Member
Livestock Farmer
Ha yea I know we shear them ourselves.
probable needs a thread to itself they are big ewes but not all over 100 kg but I’d argue they milk well getting feb born lambs away early with no creep so we got no lambs eating grass from July onwards and ewes shut up very tight letting cows have the grass when they need it. Maybe even eat less per kg lamb sold than keeping lambs about all year


If you're on good ground you can get away with it - but I'd argue smaller ewes ran a bit tighter would still be more economical. On poorer/marginal ground you're wasting your time and just keeping a feed company in business with big ewes
 

tr250

Member
Location
Northants
If you're on good ground you can get away with it - but I'd argue smaller ewes ran a bit tighter would still be more economical. On poorer/marginal ground you're wasting your time and just keeping a feed company in business with big ewes
Luckily we are on good ground but also cattled ground so they do well. Feed company’s would all go bust if they relied on our trade
 

Old Tip

Member
Location
Cumbria
I spent a few hours at the record attempt yesterday as I had something else to do at Matt's farm. The sheer physical fitness and effort required goes without saying but I think the bit that people may not realise is the mental challenge to keep going through the tough spots.
Mind you as with anything that happens at Trefranck farm failure is never on the list of options! Well deserved congratulations to Stuart.

Another thing that struck me was the preponderance of young people there, well a lot younger than me anyway. It makes me wonder whether the perceived image of farming folk being mostly oldies is skewed because the young ones are just getting on with it and far less likely to be spending their time on TFF and such.
Young lass who shears for us drove all the way from mid Scotland to see the attempt, great to see so many young folk exited about shearing
 

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