A new series of one of the sheep industry’s most popular extension and adoption programs, ‘It’s Ewe Time’, is being rolled out through until the end of August, but producers these days should not take these information sessions for granted.
“We encourage as many producers as possible to get involved in these forums,” said Meat and Livestock Australia’s General Manager – Producer Consultation and Adoption, Michael Crowley.
“The sheepmeat and wool industries have moved on a long way since 2011, when these forums were last held, and there’s more information to be thinking about and incorporating into your business.”
If there’s suitable interest we might see the program move north next winter.
The practical, hand-on approach to best practice has gone on tour for the first time since 2011 with the intention is designed to increase producer awareness of the principles, practices and tools of sheep enterprise profitability and productivity.
A joint initiative of Meat and Livestock Australia (MLA) and Australian Wool Innovation (AWI), the forums are under the banner of the successful Making More From Sheep program, which closed last year after nine seasons and a $25m ‘gain’ for $5.4m spent.
The forums have already been held earlier this month at Kimba, Cummins and Ceduna, SA where timely rain encouraged a good crowd, The south’s season has been a disappointment until now, with cold fronts failing to climb as high as they should, and a focus of this information session that was on ewe management and best practice culling held a silent audience, said Emily King, Manager, Woolgrower Education and Capacity Building with Australian Wool Innovation.
Meat and Livestock Australia’s General Manager – Producer Consultation and Adoption, Michael Crowley, said the objective of the forums was to help sheep producers achieve 10 per cent more carcase value, produce 10 per cent more lambs per hectare and grow 10 per cent more wool.
“With sheepmeat and wool prices continuing at historic highs, particularly compared with grain prices, there is renewed interest in boosting productivity and profitability of sheep enterprises,” Mr Crowley said.
How to enable positive change
The popular Making More From sheep series,which finished up last year after nine seasons, enabled remarkable change among producers.
Results released by Australian Wool innovation and Meat and Livestock Association revealed that for every dollar spent on the project there was a gain of $4.70. Maybe more important, producers’ increased confidence, a requirement when implementing change, rose from 56 to 73 per cent.
Of the 20,300 participants who took part in the $5.4m program, held at more than 1000 geographically different events, 89 per cent reported gaining new knowledge and skills.
Some 56 per cent of participants said they had made positive change to their production systems as a result – from scanning ewes for twins and running them separate, to condition scoring for better results during pregnancy and lambing. Of course soil and pasture improvement figured in the mix.
Hoping to boost further interest in best-practice ewe management is a program offshoot called It’s Ewe Time, which is running in the south through until the end of August. This is the first time the hands-on program has toured since 2011.
