Sheep farming in WA’s Great Southern has the winning edge

As ram selling season approaches, confidence is building for advocates of the sheep and wool industry who are urging farmers to consider their options closely with commodity prices and input costs soaring to new levels. Based on annual benchmarking analysis from the Compass Agriculture Alliance — collected from WA’s Great Southern sheep flock and released last year — Darkan-based farm management consultants Icon Agriculture has determined sheep farming stands up well against cropping. Icon consultant Bob Hall, quoting work by his senior colleague Andrew Ritchie, said sheep farming stood tall from data collected over 10 years that proportionally calculated machinery or infrastructure depreciation and repairs and fuel costs. “The figures gave an indication that on average, the sheep enterprise, based on WA’s southern bred sheep, were more profitable than the average cropping enterprise every year for the last 10 years,” he said. “At the same time it has to be stated that it is much easier to keep sheep in the mixed farming situation — the enterprises have synergy.” At Billandri Poll Merino stud in Kendenup, 800 fine wool rams were being shorn, fleeces weighed and samples collected for Micro Man testing this week. Results from the testing were set to be sent to Sheep Genetics for Australian Sheep Breeding Value results. Billandri stud founder Bill Sandilands said the ASBV analysis would assist in selecting stud reserve rams and the annual crop of sale rams. “Other selection criteria includes breech wrinkle score, body weight, testicle circumference and back fat,” he said. “We have had the best start to the season in memory with two 30mm rainfall events beginning in March and the sheep are looking exceptional.” Mr Sandilands started his stud in 1962 after his father bought him 83 Banna Valley ewes. “I wanted to breed a better Merino sheep from the start,” he said. “Since then, I have been through the highs of the 1980s and the lows of the 1990s when sheep were selling for $2 per head for a short period when the Australian Wool Reserve Price Scheme was suspended.” “Now we are getting $200 per head for our commercial sheep.” Mr Sandilands said sheep and wool had been the farm’s main income up until the 1990s. “As the farm progressed to more mixed farming, while remaining with our 7000 ewe flock, we found that sheep were more risk-free and they can handle country to rough to crop,” he said. “I don’t appreciate how the Eastern States politicians discount the live export industry, fortunately the McGowan Government is aware of this,” he said. “My message to farmers is to stay in wool sheep — a more profitable enterprise.” Jumbuck Shearing contractor Tom Reed, who shears at 40 studs harvesting the wool from sale rams from early February to mid-June, said wool was a very profitable enterprise. “It has been a great start to the season and sheep have mostly been born on greed pasture feed,” he said. “The sale rams have all been of high standard. “Wool is a great industry to be in and I am counting on it to remain so in the future.”