IN the eyes of Greg Nuthall, “Dutton Park”, the Merino is satisfying to the environment – a versatile product with no waste.
Mr Nuthall runs 4000 Egelabra-blood breeding ewes together with his wife Barb at their 1600 hectare property in the South West Slopes region of Young.
The first mob of Egelabra blood ewes were bought from a property north- west of West Wyalong in the late 1950s. In the past “Dutton Park” has run as many as 7000 Merino news, but now a mixed farming enterprise, it holds a place for a rotational cropping system.
“They (Merinos) have served our family well,” Mr Nuthall said. “Egelabra suits our farming operation and our climate conditions. We have never had a problem with coloured wool in wet weather – they can handle the high rainfall areas. The sheer fact that they are so predictable is one of the reasons we are still passionate about them.”
About 300 of the Merino ewes are culled yearly, depending on seasonal variations. Those ewes are joined to Border Leicester rams.
Wether lambs are sent through the auction system before they cut their teeth at about 10-months. Recently they sold what Mr Nuthall called the ‘tail-enders’. They returned an average price of $115, with their fleeces returning about $28.
Joining takes place in the middle of February to lamb down June/July. “It was a pretty harsh summer this year, but because of our farming operation we have access to a fair bit of stubble country to put the ewes on,” Mr Nuthall said.
They operate a four-year rotation cropping system, alternating between wheat and canola. Pastures are then ‘blown out’, which, according to Mr Nuthall, sometimes seems ‘criminal’.
“It is an important part of the rotation because it improves the fertility of the property,” he said. “The vertical integration of what we are doing is working so far, but it does take a while to get there.”
All ewes are scanned in May/June. This year, 1100 were scanned in twin and less then seven per cent were scanned dry.
Lambing down in June/July can sometimes prove difficult, but as Mr Nuthall said, with unpredictable weather patterns, anytime can prove a challenge.They lamb in small mobs, most around the 330 to 350 number, with all those in lamb with twins separated from the singles.
Main shearing takes place on October, with wether lambs shorn in April. Their fleeces have always sat between 18.6 and 20-micron.
“Egelabra produce uniform progeny, and they produce a wonderful wool,” Mr Nuthall said. “It is a versatile product and there is no waste as far as carcase value – it have never been more positive.”
