Breeds of Beef Cattle Merino Wool
A convenance system first practical to beefiness cattle has been adapted for Merinos, in the Murray river land effectually Swan Hill.
Tim and Tam Mulholland, Fairview, Noorong, took the principals behind the Stabiliser breed and applied them to Merinos, they run on their chiliad hectare holding.
A New Zealander by birth, Mr Mulholland helped gear up up the Stabiliser bull system, first adult in America, there.
"We accept modelled all our sheep genetics on that program, so we have taken the composite arroyo to breeding Merinos," Mr Mullholland said. "Instead of using the breed differences, we used bloodline differences for dissimilar traits. It'southward fairly easy with every other enterprise than the Merino – with the Merino, information technology's a hell of a claiming, you are mad to do it. But when you expect at it, we have seen the results with the cattle and composite breeds."
He said the property started off with Wonga and Charinga blood Merinos, to produce a big, heavy cutting brute. "When we were breeding the Stabiliser, we collected data until it came out of our ears, and realised a certain phenotype came out. I knew exactly what I was looking for, to get that curve bending type shape.
"If you select for high weaning weights – we want curve angle, very high post weaning weight, and then we want them to taper off, and early puberty."
The property at present ran between 2000-3000 sheep with a central aim of linking condition score to high fertility, and ewe body weight to lamb weaning weight.
"So what we adult was an initial four way cross, with the Wonga's and Charingas - nosotros had fibre density and wool cut covered – then we went to the Kerri Kerri Merinos, and created a first cross, and then we went to the Australian Meat Merino," he said. Mr Mulholland said he wasn't quite finished, adding Finn-Dorper-White Suffolk genes, for early puberty, over the Charinga base to cover wool density and length, fatty and eye muscle. All that progeny, we joined as ewe lambs and bred our rams from them.
The couple run Fairview, which neighbours Tam's parents' Alec and Jill Martin's property, Operina, with both blocks drawing irrigation rights from the nearby Wakool River.
The enterprise was aimed at producing both wool and meat, with ewe-lamb joining and a not-mulesed flock.
"Yous have to concede wool cut, but you will choice up other traits," Mr Mullholand said.
"The animals cutting 7-8kg, downwardly to 6.5-7kg, but I aim for a 70kg ewe to cutting 10 per cent of her body weight – at that mark, the younger ewes will keep coming upwards with fibre density. He said he did not chase microns, although they generally sat around 21-23, with some down equally low as 20.
"It'southward going to the bespeak where it is getting too fine, simply it is still quite a proficient, bold, gusty wool – nosotros don't really worry so much, if it's on a blazon of sheep we like."
The pasture was made up of tetraploid ryegrasses, sub, Shaftal and Balansa clovers, while Medic, lucerne, brassicas and Moby barley were also sown separately, and betwixt saltbush.
More recently, the Mulhollands brought a 2600 drylands block, Yerinbool, near Hay, to motion away from a dependence on irrigation.
"With irrigating to grow pasture, we aim for 12 tonnes of dry matter per hectare, one megalitre of h2o grows you a tonne of dry matter, if you achieve 12t/ha, for every tonne we produce on irrigation, information technology comes dorsum to $250 a tonne.
SELF-REPLACING: The Mullhollands run a self-replacing flock, based on several Merino bloodlines and the Stabliser system.
SALTBUSH SUPPLEMENT: Saltbush is interplanted with pasture species, to provide feed through dry times.
While both the Noorong properties had the potential for 325ha, under irrigation, that had been cutting back, due to the cost of water.
CURVE BENDERS: The Mullhollands run both a wool and meat operation, based on Stabliser principals, beginning developed for beefiness cattle. Pictures: Andrew Miller.
"A lot of things are not making long term sense, the mode they are buying h2o back, all over the testify – we thought the money was better spent on buying a dryland property."
Product VALUES: Tim and Tam Mullholland, Fairview, Noorong.
Source: https://www.stockandland.com.au/story/4111411/merino-composites-paying-dividends/
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