DORPERS were the perfect fit for South Australian lamb producers Danny and Michelle Brumfield, who chose the breed for its high growth and low maintenance.
The couple, with their 11-year-old son Toby, runs between 1000 and 1200 Dorper and White Dorper ewes and finish their lambs in the feedlot at “Orland Hills”, Tailem Bend, in the heart of crossbred lamb country.
The Brumfields supply lambs to a local butcher shop but also sell lambs to the Bultarra Australian Saltbush Lamb brand.
Mr Brumfield has 500 to 600 lambs in the feedlot at any time. The Dorper production fits in well with the main business of producing pork. The family has a 5000-head grow-out piggery.
“The piggery is a full-time job, so we’re trucking two semi-trailer loads a week, about 460 head,” Mr Brumfield said. “Because that takes a lot of time, we needed to find an easy care breed.” The decision to go into Dorpers five years ago has paid off.
“We had a small Merino flock as well but we worked out pretty quickly that Dorpers were better suited for us.
“Our country is typical Mallee country with dry spells and the Dorpers hold on quite well in the dry.” The Brumfields buy rams from South Australian stud breeders Brad and Tanya Edson, Red Rock White Dorpers, Keith.
“We also go to Bendigo once a year for the Australian Sheep and Wool Show to look at rams and sometimes we buy out of there,” Mr Brumfield said. When choosing rams, Mr Brumfield’s focus is on high early growth rates and eye muscle area (EMA).
”We always look for the best quality rams that we can afford, so they’ve got the big EMA and the best early growth rates,” he said. The sheep are run in three flocks, with one lambing year-round to ensure a constant supply of lambs for the feedlot.
“We put rams back in with them almost straight away as soon as they lamb so that we can get the two lambs a year.” Lambs are weaned between four and five months old and spend six to eight weeks on a barley and lupin ration in the feedlot to reach sale weights of 50-55kg. The feedlot, which was introduced in October last year, has been the perfect addition to the enterprise. “I don’t think I’d ever go back to finishing them in a paddock.” Mr Brumfield said there was always demand for good quality lamb. “Since we started the feedlot, we've had people ringing all the time looking for lambs.”