CENTRAL Queensland shearing contractor overseeing the shearing of a quarter of a million sheep in 2000 to a New England woolgrower winning the latest Northern Tablelands Merino Wether Trial 16 years later is a bonus Steve and Robyn Johnston were not expecting.
As a shearer and contractor, Mr Johnson always dreamed of being a woolgrower as he admits he loves the Merino breed.
The couple have an 800 head Merino flock based on Maister’s Swamp blood since 2004, plus another 200 Merino ewes they join to their Border Leicester stud rams for first cross ewe production at “Oakhurst”, Deepwater.
“Dingoes were eating all the sheep out Blackall way and cattle guys were buying up the country, so in 2003 we realised our dream and bought in the New England to become woolgrowers,” Mr Johnston said.
They first sourced some Merryville blood ewes and a “little bit” of Egelabra and also Shalimar Park blood ewes.
“We had come from a medium wool growing area of a 22 to 23 micron average to little superfines of 18 micron and 75 millimetres staple length,” he said.
“I just wanted to get away from that 18 micron fine crimping wool which 95 per cent of people up here were growing and wanted to be different by putting some more wool on them.”
They bought some rams from Severn Park and also locally, but came across the Watsons of Maister’s Swamp stud and began buying rams in 2004 and ever since.
“It’s a credit to David Watson what we have done to our sheep during the past 10 years at least. The Maister’s Swamp blood has not so much broadened the micron, but just thickened the wool up.
“The wool has got finer rather than stronger now averaging around the 17.8 micron mark, but the sheep are cutting plenty of thick and rich, deep crimping wool.”
In the 2014 trial shearing one wether cut 9.6 kilograms and the team averaged 7.6kg.
“It’s a deep crimping wool and sits like a horseshoe,” he said. “It draws out really well and retains all of its crimp, and is not brittle.”
Two flocks (second and third placegetters) had been sold during the trial with owners moving more into beef production.
However, Mr Johnston said fourth placegetters Brian and Nick Lantz, “Yarramundi”, Deepwater, who had been on Egelabra blood for decades, set the benchmark around the region.
“They have wonderful sheep and was something to outperform their team,” he said. “That’s a great achievement for David Watson’s breeding.”
District wether teams trial well
JUST $1.72 was the difference between first and second placegetting teams in the 2012-2015 Northern Tablelands Merino Wether Trial.
The winning 10 wethers with a total trial average income was the Maister’s Swamp blood team from “Oakhurst”, Deepwater, bred by Steve and Robyn Johnston, closely followed by another Deepwater district team of Longford blood bred by Andrew Campbell and family, “Lochenfels”.
Wool from Johnstons’ wethers in three shearings tallied $177.65 average against Campbell’s $175.93, however carcases weight average from Lochenfels led Oakhurst by 31 cents.
The trial by Northern Tablelands Local Land Services at Glen Innes Agricultural Research and Advisory Station attracted 25 teams with averages down to $226.68.
Third place at $270.40 went to the team of Waverley Downs blood wethers entered by Geoff Mather’s Jura Pastoral Company. “Nullamanna via Inverell who sold his flock during the trial.
Fourth place went to a team of Egelabra blood wethers bred by Brian and Nick Lanz, “Yarramundi”, Deepwater, which averaged $268.04.
