A long-term commitment to and passion for producing wool is leading to a significant post-drought sheep flock re-building phase for the Swain family, of Back Creek in Nundle.
Geoff Swain, his wife Kerry, their son Sebastian and his wife Jodi will be in the market for more rams in 2021, on the back of purchasing nine new sires in the past two years to expand their ewe and wether numbers.
The family says they are reaping the rewards of switching to Kurrajong Park Merinos, based near Delungra, five years ago to boost the frame and size of their sheep and cut more wool per head.
It has also been a bonus having bigger older Merino ewes available for prime lamb production.
The Swains run 1500 Merinos, of which about half are mated to Kurrajong Park sires for wool and the remainder to White Suffolk rams for meat.
The family also trades cattle and produces lucerne and oats for forage on their 1600-hectare property, which was settled in 1852.
For diversification of income and interests, Jodi also runs a farmstay on the property.
Geoff Swain said, for many years, breeding selection in the Merino flock had concentrated on lifting wool cut per head and per hectare.
At the same time, they aim to keep wool average fibre diameter at about 17.5-18-micron in adult sheep and create a clip with a good crimp and soft handle.
Mr Swain said adult sheep cut about five kilograms of wool per head, which was trending up, and staple length and strength were adequate to meet buyer requirements at the finer and medium end of the scale.
Like many growers in the New England region, the Swains have come through three years of severe drought.
"We had to sell some wethers in 2017 in a remarkable set of seasonal conditions that saw our farm run out of water for the first time ever," Mr Swain said.
"But 2020 was a complete turnaround, and we had an excellent amount of feed and great lambing percentages to help us shift up a gear in continuing to grow sheep numbers again."
As the Swains head into their Merino joining period in April - for a spring lamb drop - they are on the hunt for top genetics from their stud at the Northern Ram Sales.
At the 2020 Kurrajong Park on-property sale they secured three rams, including a son of a Roseville Park sire with an 18.5 micron fleece and 16.1 coefficient of variation of fibre diameter, to take the number of sires in their battery to 12.
"In 2021, we are planning to select a few more to breed-up Merino ewes," Mr Swain said.
"There is much value in ewes because you can produce wool and/or grow a prime lamb from them."
