IN THE dry-earthed region just north of Ariah Park, Neil Penfold and his wife Julianne, "Devon Park", run almost 700 head of sheep, predominately South African Meat Merino, otherwise known as the Prime SAMM.
Since the outset of the operation in 1993 on his 1450-hectare property, Mr Penfold sought to find a meat sheep that had the right type of wool.
He targeted Prime SAMMs, seeing them as the complete package of a 60:40 meat to wool breed.
"SAMM lambs have low birth weights and, at six to eight weeks of age, they grow quickly and don't stop, their feed conversion rate is fantastic," Mr Penfold said.
"SAMMs are easy to get the weight onto them, hitting the 24-kilogram to 30kg mark."
Mr Penfold said he also liked the SAMMs because of their good eye muscle ratings and large bone structure.
Mr Penfold buys his SAMM rams from the MacPhersons' Rosemere stud at Junee.
He said Rosemere's Prime SAMMs were a testament to the breed, particularly when it started out.
Mating about 15 per cent of his older Merino ewes to his Prime SAMM rams, Mr Penfold said the first-cross SAMMs were rejoined to produce prime lambs
"I'll join my sheep now, which will run for about eight weeks, and I'll take my rams out at the end of February for lambing in late June," he said.
Mr Penfold said the lambing percentage of his SAMMs seemed to average out at 110 per cent, peaking at 135pc.
"I've never been below 100 per cent, it seems to be because of the breed, they're very fertile."
A majority of the flock is shorn in the first week of April, except for the SAMM lambs, which would be shorn in early January while being held in the on-farm feedlot.
"The SAMM ewes hover about the 21- to 22-micron mark and cut about five kilograms worth of wool, which I put through the system as a crossbred-type wool," he said.
"The SAMM rams are about the 22- to 23-micron mark.
"We also cut about the same amount of wool off the first cross."
Traditionally, Mr Penfold sells lambs through the Temora saleyards, targeting the heavy export market weight, but recently found breeders to sell SAMM ewes to.
"Instead of selling them through the yards, in the past, I have found local breeders to sell ewes to that wanted them, when I didn't need them," he said.
With their adaptability and hardiness in dry conditions, Mr Penfold said the SAMMs needed minimum supplementary feeding even in drought conditions.
"We do supplement with grain and a little bit of hay for the sheep."
Jessica Frecklington
Markets reporter for The Land.
Markets reporter for The Land.
