Prime Lamb: Pushing fertility with White Suffolks

Mr Elworthy joins 1500 ewes, with the bulk for the self-replacing flock, and some joined to terminal sires.

He started buying White Suffolk rams from Paul Routley at Almondvale stud a few years ago, after using Mr Routley's Bond rams for many years. He's also used rams from Yanco Agricultural High School's stud.

"I had tried Poll Dorsets, but the maidens are only 15 months at lambing, so we went to White Suffolks for the maidens instead and they seem to be going along all right," Mr Elworthy said.

About 400 of the older ewes are joined to White Suffolk and Poll Dorset rams, and for the past three years, maidens have been joined earlier than many operations.

"We've been joining them at nine months of age in March to get a lamb in August, so we're pushing fertility," Mr Elworthy said.

"Using White Suffolks gives us smaller birthweights, and they do take a bit more growing out after weaning than the Poll Dorset lambs from the older ewes, but I get really nice rounded lambs by February or March on lucerne, and the lambing rates make up for the slower growth. I'd rather get a live lamb on the ground.

"We're trying to get that extra lamb, and the hardest thing is actually trying to get them in lamb the second time, so we've been vigilant about getting lambs off those maiden ewes so they can recover."

He's also improved nutrition for the ewes, especially the maidens.

"Nutrition is a big player when you're trying to join that early, and it's the same with the older ewes in December. We can grow a little bit of barley here so we usually feed them barley in autumn, before lambing."

As wool is the main enterprise, all second-cross lambs are sold.

"I like my wool and the market has been pretty good to us in the last couple of years.

"We've been getting 1200 cents a kilogram for 24- to 25-micron wool, so it's happy days. I'm going to try to stick to that goal, and working on the lamb as well."

Ewes are mainly on native pastures and fertilised country, and lambs are weaned on to oats and ryegrass.

"Most of the lambs go onto brassica and if they don't finish off that they'll go on a lucerne paddock or I'll give them a bit of grain to top them off."

The lambs are usually sold over the hook, but Mr Elworthy leaves his market options open.

"If I get suckers around October, I try to send them to Coles in Gundagai, otherwise I'll grow them out to send to Southern Meats at Goulburn as export lambs.

"This year we went through the physical market at Wagga Wagga because the money was there and it's convenient, being only an hour away.

"They were our last lots of 120 and 130 head, and we were very happy with the prices we got."