Using a combination of leading Australian Merino genetics and modern management tactics is keeping Nick and Pen Gay at the cutting edge of wool production and marketing performance.
The pair run a 7500-head sheep flock on 3000 hectares at Hovells Creek, near Boorowa, of which 60 per cent (or about 4500-head) are mated to Pooginook Merino sires for wool production and the remainder to Border Leicesters for first-cross ewes that are in strong demand from re-stockers.
There is also a 300-head herd of Angus breeders on the property and this livestock structure provides multiple sources of income to reduce business risks in a high rainfall zone environment.
A passion to produce the highest possible volume of top quality fibre from the pasture base has kept the Gays riding the waves of wool market volatility - which is being tackled by implementing a range of strategies and technologies to optimise flock productivity and returns.
Importance of genetics
This starts with selection of sires for key profit-driving production traits of high wool cut per head, high post-weaning weight, fine fibre diameter, long staple strength, positive eye muscle and plain body type.
Breeding is tracking along the lines that the Pooginook stud follows in its goal of supplying clients with multi-purpose sheep genetics combining good growth, high fertility and excellent wool production.
Paddock practices
Management and marketing practices then come into play for the Gays.
This includes ewe lamb mating; shearing the Merino flock twice each year; and stopping lamb mulesing to be able to promote their Heulen Pastoral Company woolclip as non-mulesed on the Australian Wool Exchange National Wool Declaration.
These tactics require a strong focus on good early lamb growth and production of longer staple length wool - at about 65 to 70 millimetres - without compromising target wool cuts of seven kilograms per head per year (in adult sheep) and ensuring fibre diameter is trending down.
It means we have to focus on growing the most amount of wool that we can at the highest quality we can.
- Hovells Creek wool producer Nick Gay
Mr Gay said joining ewe lambs at the age of 7.5 months and a minimum liveweight of 45kg meant this part of the flock was significantly more productive 12 months earlier than usual.
"Traditionally we carried Merino ewes through to 18 months for wool production before getting a lamb out of them," he said.
"But we are finding that by genetically selecting for early growth and body weight, we can successfully mate our ewe lambs and bring them into both wool and lamb production much sooner.
"This boosts output per head, per hectare and per year."
This is the first year of ewe lamb mating for the Gay family and, in a mob of 600-head with an average liveweight of 53kg, they achieved 70 per cent conception and 82pc conception potential per number of ewes joined.
"This system makes wool profits more competitive with profits from the sheep meat enterprise and we are aiming to continue fine-tuning to boost conception and lambing rates, Mr Gay said.
He said shifting to a bi-annual shearing was also paying dividends by eliminating the need to crutch or mules lambs.
Wool qualities
"At each shearing, we are still getting an average wool fibre length of 65 to 70mm, our hogget wool fibre diameter averages about 17.4 micron, our adult sheep produce an average 18.7 micron and wool cuts per head are still about 7kg/head," Mr Gay said.
"Due to our focus on staple length and high follicle density, we are getting easy-shear sheep that have lovely white, bright and free-growing fibre."
Mr Gay said one of the biggest challenges of producing wool was global market volatility.
"In the past few years we have gone from being in the top 95th percentile of wool prices to the 45th percentile, and yet we haven't seen those types of massive shifts with meat production," he said.
"It makes it difficult to budget for the wool side of the business.
"It seems largely to be a function of relying on China as a dominant single wool buyer from Australia - along with volatility across other world markets.
"It means we have to focus on growing as much wool of the highest quality, that we can - and then market it with the help of our wool broker David Quirk, from Jemalong Wool, as best we can."
In 2020, the Gays produced their first non-mulesed woolclip.
Through Jemalong Wool, they signed-up to the Schneider Group's Authentico Integrity Scheme that ensures vertical integration and traceability from farm gate to wool top processing.
This has allowed the business to achieve premiums above the spot price when their clip is sold.
"We like to think we are producing ethically sound sheep that don't need mulesing in a sustainable manner that meets our global customer demand for natural products that can be traced back to farm of origin," Mr Gay said.