IDENTIFYING genetics that help growers make money was the aim of Australia’s largest and recently concluded wether trial – the Craig Wilson Livestock Wether Trial.
Upon winding up on March 5, trial organiser and Merino genetic consultant, Craig Wilson, Wagga Wagga, noted Merino breeders who had undertaken performance testing and genetic evaluation dominated the top 10 per cent of teams.
“The top four performing teams all use on-farm objective testing in their ewe selection,” he said.
“These teams’ selection systems are based on making money and they are using bloodlines that are focused on the same thing.”
The trial commenced in March 2008 at the Bell family’s property, “Paling Yards”, Taralga.
On March 4 and 5, the final shearing took place, all fleeces were weighed, and wool values were calculated on individually measured fibre diameter, staple strength, length and yield.
The shorn sheep were then weighed, condition and wrinkle scored, and valued.
The wethers were shorn three times during the trial, with the first shearing not evaluated and instead used to even out the mob for the subsequent two shearings.
In all, 900 commercial wethers – 30 teams comprising 30 randomly selected sheep – were drawn from all the major woolgrowing regions, from the New England to the Riverina, representing some of NSW’s most influential bloodlines.
Mr Wilson said one of the main aims of the trial was to evaluate the entrants’ flock genetics, not only in terms of gross return per head, but also in net profit per hectare.
“The trial showed woolgrowing can outperform other land uses in terms of profit per hectare,” he said.
“Results from last year show a net difference of 77 per cent between the top and bottom teams due to their genetics. The teams with the best balance of figures, constitution and conformation always came out on top.
“When there is this much variation at the top end of the industry, it highlights why dramatic change must occur in the genetic make-up of the Merino sheep population.”
Industry and Investment NSW (I and I) sheep and wool officers Sally Martin, Young, and Col Langford, Goulburn, oversaw the thousands of measurements and processed the data.
The joint project with I and I meant they were able to give preliminary results on the final day, and assess the sheep and wool based on the department’s guidelines, Mr Wilson said.
“We are trying to identify superior genetics for the benefit of the industry,” Ms Martin said.
What they found with this trial was the high degree of consistency between shearing.
“There was a very high correlation between the micron from last year to this year,” she said.
As a result of the testing, the sheep and wool officers were able to benchmark genetics against each other.
“It certainly highlighted the fact the Merino is a dual-purpose animal,” she said.
This was the last year of the Craig Wilson Livestock Wether Trial, which had run another two trials prior.
Set to commence next month is the inaugural Peter Westblade Memorial Merino Challenge.
Concluding in 2012, it will comprise 1500 wethers or 50 teams of 30 sheep, and Craig Wilson will again be co-ordinator.
The Craig Wilson Livestock Wether Trial received support from Taralga Rural Supplies, Riverina Wool Testers, I and I, and Allflex, as well as Moses and Son and the Australian Wool Network.
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