Aussie Whites the perfect match for Neville Mattick

It’s been a big transition away from Merino breeding, with Mr Mattick now joining about 1000 ewes to Baringa Australian White rams at his 1250-hectare property "Hill Top", at Hargraves, near Mudgee.

The fourth generation Merino breeder said wild dogs and climate change were the biggest issues influencing his decision.

Mr Mattick said the Australian Whites are able to handle the cold, heatwaves, and wet weather.

“Climate change is resulting in big temperature variations, and the destruction of a stable system and the predictability of rain, so we needed sheep that could handle all conditions and live off any pastures,” Mr Mattick said.

“We had 49 frosts this winter, so lambing was tough. 

“We thought we'd lamb at 130 per cent, but that’s probably 70pc to 90pc now because of the harshness of the season.

“Because of the big changes in weather, we want a robust sheep that can handle the climate and that's versatile in lots of different pastures.”

The country is all native pastures, with rotational grazing used to make the most of every paddock.

“The Australian Whites are perfect for rotational grazing,” Mr Mattick said.

“They’ll eat the invasive plants which the Merino and Border Leicester crosses wouldn't eat. They utilise a lot of plants that were worthless and in some paddocks with a lot of regrowth they've really cleaned the country up.

“We don’t have to supplement the sheep, we can wean lambs on native pasture at 40 kilograms and when we do get rain, the native pastures respond.”

It’s a big change from only a few years ago, when Mr Mattick had just Merinos and Border Leicesters.

“I couldn’t stand the maintenance of wool and we were struggling to get our numbers up,” he said.

“The Merinos and the crosses needed a lot of nutrition, and they were just too much work, which is why we needed a low maintenance sheep.

“I think we should be totally shearing free by 2021.”

Mr Mattick hopes to build numbers to 1000 breeding ewes by next year.

Lambing and marking percentages have been stronger since introducing Aussie White rams.

“It’ll be the first time at that number in a decade. 

“With the Australian Whites, we can join them comfortably as two-tooths, so the reproduction cycle is more rapid. 

“The goal is to try to get numbers up to the point where we can start selling ewes to smaller restockers.”

Mr Mattick is focused on increasing numbers, and keeps all ewes, and wether lambs are sold through the Dubbo saleyards at 12 to 15 weeks, usually weighing about 40kg.

The Aussie Whites are also easy to manage, he said.

“If they're disciplined well in the paddock, they're very obedient, and they have better mob awareness when we’re moving them – we can just open a gate and they’ll go straight through, and they stay together in a mob, unlike Merinos.

“They’re also more aware when it comes to wild dogs.”

Wild dogs have been a huge problem since 2013, killing about a third of the breeding stock.

“We’ve lost about $50,000 worth of sheep to wild dogs, and one year they took 180 lambs,” Mr Mattick.

“Having wild dogs destroy sheep has been devastating, emotionally and financially.

“We’ve done a lot of trapping, but we can’t trap them all, and baiting is only marginally effective, but we’re improving fencing.”

Mr Mattick said introducing Australian White blood has helped to reduce the number of attacks.

“With the Aussie Whites, we have had some problems but I’ve been able to adjust what I do, and they’re smarter about the dogs, which could be because of the African blood in them. We have alpacas running with them, but I think they’re better mothers. 

“As a person who's had a lot of stress from wild dog attacks, the Aussie Whites have given me the realisation we can breed back into success.”