SOME of the top Merino operations in the country have been put to the test with the Peter Westblade Memorial Merino Challenge, and the two-year competition will finish next week with the final shearing.
The competition, run in honour of the late Peter Westblade, is the biggest wether trial of its type, with more than 60,000 individual records collected, analysed and reported.
The two components of the challenge – meat and wool – are held separately, with the meat challenge finishing in 2016 after the 50 teams of 15 wether lambs were on lucerne then lotfed at Collingullie.
The wool component is held over the two years, beginning with the even-up shearing in April 2016. The wool wethers have been run on pasture and given the same opportunities in terms of management, nutrition and animal health.
Challenge convenor Craig Wilson, who has more than 14 years’ experience in research and evaluation in eight locations across NSW, said the information gathered from the challenge provided entrants and the wider Merino industry with tools to accurately determine the genetic merit of a range of traits affecting profitability.
“Nutrition and management have such a massive impact on how sheep look, and that makes it very difficult for people to ascertain the quality of their genetics at home,” Mr Wilson said.
“There are many producers who have been involved in these trials, seen their results, and gone away and made changes, then put their sheep back in a few years later. They can then measure the difference between each trial, and they improve because they’ve got the information to make the genetic changes.”
The challenge will end with the shearing on March 1 and 2 at North Wagga TAFE, from 7.30am to 5pm.
The Peter Westblade Scholarship recipients will be announced at an auction dinner at Murrumbidgee Turf Club on March 1, and will feature Jim Honner, co-founder of Thank a Farmer for Your Next Meal, as guest speaker.
