Friday, March 29, 2024

Pushing production boundaries

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Increasing sheep productivity by 15% over three years is no mean feat but 10 farmers in the Sheep Profit Partnership programme have done just that. Run by Beef + Lamb New Zealand and facilitated by farm consultant Wayne Allan, the partnership programme took 10 high-performing farms in Canterbury and Marlborough and challenged them to lift productivity by 5% year-on-year for three years with a one-year lead-in.
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The programme winds up early next year and all participating farmers have progressed towards their individual production goals. Several even exceeded their 15% target.

While the farms represent a wide range of property types – from flat land to steep hill country – the farmers had remarkably consistent messages about what they had learnt through the programme and where they would now focus their management decisions.

Feeding and maintaining ewes at optimum body condition scores was an over-riding theme but within that all the farmers are looking to legumes to drive production, particularly lamb growth rates.

Speaking at the programme’s final field day, Allan said the group identified three key drivers of their sheep operations: conception rates, lamb survivability and high pre-weaning growth rates. He acknowledged that some drivers were easier to influence than others.

Feed had the greatest influence, including feeding at tupping having an effect on scanning. Optimal nutrition during late-winter had a direct effect on lamb survival and early lamb growth rates. Channelling feed into ewes and lambs in mid- and late-lactation will drive lamb growth rates and lift ewe body condition.

Two farmers considered late-lactation as being the easiest and cheapest time to put body condition back on their ewes. 

Allan said pastures with herbs, high clover content or pure legume forages – such as lucerne or red clover – were hugely beneficial in increasing lamb weaning weights.

“The farmers had put some effort in this area and have been well-rewarded. Each had used species suited to their environment.”

The group made the most progress in lifting lamb weaning weights with the average lifting from 31.1kg to 34.2kg liveweight. This meant the weaning draft lifted from an average of 31% to 41%. 

Allan expected the lift to be higher, but some farms had changed their drafting policy in response to higher lamb growth rates.

Within this range, every kilogram increase in the weaning weight can potentially increase weaning drafts by 10-15%.

“This is a very powerful tool particularly in a drought.” 

The average carcaseweight (CW) remained at 16kg CW but lambs were generally sold earlier. An unexpected outcome of the programme was a lift in stocking rate from 5.7/ha to 6.2/ha, an increase of 10%.

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