news 2013/14

PENDARRA NEWSLETTER

We regularly produce a newsletter for our commercial ram clients which is now available online. Activate one of the links below to view the newsletter.

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Welcome to the news page for

PENDARRA WHITE SUFFOLK STUD and PERFORMANCE plus GENETICS.

We will frequently use this page as a notice board to let you know what is happening within our stud and allow new visitors to our site to see some of the highlights over the past few years.

2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2015

Highlights 2014

Great weaning data - over 100Kg lamb weaned per ewe

We have recently weaned our 2014 drop lambs and to say they are looking impressive would be to underestimate the potential they are showing. This year due to a significant shortage of water at joining, we decided to syndicate join our whole stud mob except for the AI ewes and will shortly be extracting DNA to determine the parentage of the lambs. Following a very hot summer and a shortage of both feed and water, the ewes are showing the benefits of our breeding objectives to strive for better do ability and to handle tough conditions and respond when times improve.

After some anxious moments during the summer in relation to the condition of the ewes, we provided good energy through grain and hay during the last trimester to be saved by probably the best start to Autumn for many years. A warmer than average start to winter saw good early pasture growth and we were able to lamb the ewes on good feed.

When we weaned the lambs the average combined weight for the twins weaned was close to 100Kg of lamb weaned per ewe with around 30% of the twins over that mark per ewe. A set of triplets had a combined weaning weight of 128.5 Kg for a ewe that was still in condition score 3.5. The average condition score for the ewes at weaning was slightly better than 4 and these lambs were 2.5 - 3.5 months old with a weaning percentage of 135%. A great result and one that confirms our commitment to breeding for genetics that have the ability to handle the tough conditions well and when the situation improves, respond accordingly. Lambs will be DNA tested shortly and scanned for carcase traits.

Sheep CRC Conference

Late in 2013 I was honored to be invited to represent the sheep industry along with several other delegates in putting forward a submission to the Govt. for an extension to the funding for the Sheep CRC. We were successful in obtaining funding for an extension to the SHeep CRC research program and the next 5 years will see some further gains in a range of areas including improving animal health and wellbeing, further gains in the area of meat quality and quality based meat cuts and improving the accuracy and predictions from DNA and hopefully reducing the cost to have these tests completed. This will be the final phase of the Sheep CRC and at the end of this time frame we will have an industry that rivals any in the area of application of technology to delivering higher gains to producers.

I was also honored to be invited to speak at the Sheep CRC conference in Adelaide on the topic of the opportunities genomics offers to the industry from the perspective of terminal sire breeders.This conference was held just prior to Lambex and was a great success with attendees from all across Australia and from overseas. Our involvement at Pendarra in the sheep CRC extends beyond just putting genetics into the program and we see a great deal of benefit to all producers in the sheep industry as a result of the advances being continually discovered through the work being done within CRC.

Keeping busier

For a few years now, I have been undertaking various consulting appointments within the sheep industry and have recently registered a new business called Clear View Consulting. Apart from completing an Agricultural Consultancy course through UNE this year, I have been adding to the list of workshops and courses that I am qualified to deliver to the sheep industry including the opportunity to qualify as a Genomics Service provider. This new initiative from the Sheep CRC uses the findings from the CRC research to develop breeding programs and evaluate genetic gains using not only performance data but also adding in the information gained from DNA testing.

I addition to the Uni course, delivering workshops and courses such as Ram Select workshops keeps me in touch with a wide range of sheep producers from all areas on the industry and a couple of new courses such as "More Lambs, More Often" and "Using EID in Sheep Breeding and Management" will enable sheep producers to keep up to date and use up to date resources to improve management.

I hope to have the new website up and running soon and are available to provide advice and information across the whole range of sheep production and farming. The area of lamb survival and making the most out of the lambs your ewes conceive is one important area where significant gains can be made across all areas of the sheep industry. Weaning percentages should be able to lifted to increase the number of lambs you have for either sale of selection.

NEW WEBSITE www.clearviewconsulting.com.au