CROOKWELL lamb producer, Peter Selmes, is hitting the mark with a traditional second-cross lamb sold over the hooks to Woolworths.
Mr Selmes uses Poll Dorset rams over a flock of 2000 Border Leicester/Merino ewes, turning off about 2800 prime lambs annually from his 1500-hectare property, "Kydeen".
The first-cross flock has an overall lambing percentage of up to 134 per cent.
Lambing kicks off on May 1, but the majority of lambs arrive between June and July.
Mr Selmes said the property often experienced an earlier spring than other properties in the district, which allowed him to get lambs off at four to five months.
"Lambs are usually trucked off here in the first two weeks of October, without being weaned," he said.
"They go straight from mum on to the truck, being better off on mum for as long as possible."
He said they were more content and didn't suffer the setback of weaning.
Most of the "Kydeen" prime lambs are sold over the hook to Woolworths, but last year - with the availability of his own truck - Mr Selmes started carting a few loads of about 150 head to sell at Carcoar and Cowra.
Mr Selmes has been using Poll Dorset rams for at least 25 years. His father had used Dorset Horns in the early days.
He said the Poll Dorset was "more in tune" with what the market wanted, while also providing desirable traits such as doing ability and consistency.
"They are that fast maturing it is unbelievable - they lamb in May and they are up and gone in a few weeks," he said.
"The lambs this year have gone from little things out of mum to pumping along at a rapid rate."
Mr Selmes said 100 days following joining he scanned and the dry ewes were sent back to the ram for another couple of weeks.
If they were still dry after a second scanning they were culled.
"Once scanned, the doubles go into the better paddocks and the singles I live with every day because they tend to have more trouble lambing," he said.
"I can cover up to 150 kilometres a day on my ag bike just going from paddock to paddock."
He said most of the property was well-improved, basalt country and the lambs got a "good enough start" without having to supplementary feed them.
"I do have paddocks of oats that some of them can go on to if needed," Mr Selmes said.
"If you get a good spring here in September/October, there is that much clover they can look after themselves."
He said anything that didn't make the grade was shorn in late October and put onto a summer crop or some sort of Brassica.
Mr Selmes reduced his 3000-head crossbred flock to the current 2000 head a few years ago and introduced 2000 Merino wethers to pick up the difference.
"This enabled me to look after my crossbreds a bit better and reduced some of the management pressure on me," he said.
"I used to turn off 4000 lambs a year (from the 3000 ewe flock) but it was just getting a bit too much - I was losing a few ewes by not getting around them all because I was just not able to keep up."
"Kydeen" also supports a 126-head commercial Angus cattle enterprise.
