StockedUp

For WA Sheep and Cattle Industries

Season and production advice

• Consider rotational or strip grazing winter pastures to maintain the productivity and sustainability of pastures.
• Producers may consider winter herbicide manipulation for pastures to lift legume content, if there is surplus feed. 
• Ensure round bale silage reaches the 40-50% dry matter target to avoid loss of quality and spoilage. 
• Ram buying season is upon us. Consider the most appropriate ram breeder for your flock goals, and use Australian Sheep Breeding Values (ASBVs) to help select the most suitable rams. 
• Higher than normal temperatures, rain and minimal wind will bring ideal conditions for flystrike. Managing worm burden, dag and wool around the breech are just some methods to reduce flystrike incidence. 
• Stressors such as mustering, yarding, time off feed and extreme weather conditions, as well as some plants, can cause hypocalcaemia in sheep.
• Many areas haven't had enough rainfall to generate significant runoff into dams. Consider your water availability now and make plans for stock water over summer. 
• Ensure your sheep and cattle are Fit to Load. Animals not fit for the journey cannot be loaded or transported. 

Growing Merino weaners

Weaning should take place 12-14weeks from the start of lambing, with timely weaning critical to the ewe’s recovery for the following seasons mating. A short lambing window (5 weeks) produces a more uniform group of lambs which are easier to manage and decreases the number of discounted lambs not fitting market specifications.  

Targets for growth in Merino weaners

There are four key management targets to ensure good weaner survival:

• weight of at least 20kg and 45% of adult weight by pasture senescence
• growth rate of at least 1kg/month after weaning for weaners weighing 20-30kg
• growth rate of at least 2kg/month for weaners weighing <20kg.
• Draft weaned lambs into two groups based on critical liveweight to better meet their nutritional requirements

Feeding

Lambs need a diet of 14–16% crude protein and at least 70% dry matter digestibility.

Worm burden should be monitored to achieve potential growth rate. An effective drench is  required at weaning and again in early summer.

The digestibility and energy value of pasture species fall dramatically following seed set and ‘drying off’, therefore, it is important to monitor body condition throughout.

Supplementation with quality feed increases the intake and digestion of paddock feed. Starting lupin supplementation as the paddock feed begins to decline gives better utilisation of dry pasture for minimal cost by grazing. Cereal grains will reduce/substitute the intake of dry pasture and will not provide enough protein for growing weaners. Typical feeding rates to maintain weaners are 25g/hd/day lupins starting at pasture wilting (50% of clover is dead) and increasing to 50g/hd/day after 21 days. 

Weaned lambs (25-45kg) are unable to consume enough feed to maintain liveweight once the feed is below a digestibility of 55% and crude protein content of 12% or the amount of dry pasture is less than 1500kg/ha. This time is referred to as the 'crunch'. The 'crunch' for weaned lambs generally occurs during November at Newdegate and around mid–December at Mount Barker. Small scale lupin supplementation is no longer useful after the pasture quality and quantity are below critical levels.

Weaned lambs should get the first choice of all crop stubble and be rotational grazed through each stubble paddock. A three-week rotation is required when grazing cereal and canola stubbles as the weaned lambs would have consumed the better nutritive components (leaf) of the dry crop residues. They tend to concentrate their grazing within 800 metres of water points.

Managing and monitoring weaner growth rates will aid in meeting liveweight targets for sale sheep or maiden ewes for the following mating. By improving the condition score from 2 to 3 in hogget ewes at joining, it will potentially increase the percentage of lambs born.

Further detailed information, plus production targets in prime lambs, is available on the Growing Weaner Sheep webpage.

Image source: DPIRD

FutureSheep

The FutureSheep project is part of the SheepLinks program, a partnership between DPIRD and MLA, designed to assist WA sheep enterprises in the low and medium rainfall zones adapt to the impacts of all projected climate scenarios for 2030 and 2050 and build more resilient and sustainable businesses.

The sheep industry faces several significant challenges due to climate change impacts, including increased temperatures, decreased growing season rainfall, shorter growing seasons for pastures and crops, reduced runoff for filling dams, lower stocking rates (due to reduced rainfall) and less reliable growing conditions.

The project worked with sheep producers to identify adaptations to climate change that are profitable, environmentally sustainable and targeted towards future market opportunities. Climate, economical and biophysical modelling focused on 3 of the key sheep producing regions in Merredin, Kojonup and Wagin and also included a series of on farm case studies to understand producers’ current adaptations. Four major red meat processors were consulted to assess how future variations in WA farming systems may impact sheepmeat supply chains.

The project investigated adaptations in:

• Feedbase: Pasture species that are better adapted to hotter and drier conditions and able to fill the feed gaps. A number of these have been tested over the last few years in the FEED365 project.
• Animal management: Altered management calendars such as joining date or improved reproduction.
• Business and system models: Enterprise balance including crop alternatives and conservation grazing models such as confinement feeding.

The project identified key proposals for future R&D and adoption investments, including short, medium, and long-term investment priorities. With increasing global demand for animal protein, WA is well-positioned to leverage its reputation as a reliable supplier of clean, safe, and high-quality food to domestic and international consumers.

Image source: DPIRD

Are you seeing lameness in your lambs?

In Western Australian sheep, bacterial arthritis is due to inflammation in one or more joints, and is commonly caused by the bacterium Erysipelothrix rhusiopathiae. Other organisms can occasionally cause arthritis or lameness symptoms.

Lambs are the most susceptible to bacterial arthritis, with the infection entering the body through broken or wet, softened skin. Infection can come from the mothers of lambs, who may carry the organism in the tonsils and pharynx and pass it to lambs by licking wet skin or the umbilical cord soon after birth.

Management practices creating a break in the skin, such as ear marking, tailing and castration, and mulesing can increase the risk of arthritis in lambs, as can cuts obtained during shearing. Good hygiene and placing recently marked lambs and shorn sheep on clean pasture helps to reduce the establishment of infection.

Bacterial arthritis causes lameness and visible swelling of at least 2 joints in the legs. Other signs may include reluctance to walk, increased time lying down, and walking with a shuffling gait and hunched back.

Arthritis of sheep can resemble numerous other diseases that cause lameness, most importantly the reportable diseases virulent footrot, foot-and-mouth disease and bluetongue. If you have lameness or unexpected deaths in your stock, call your private veterinarian, your local DPIRD Field Veterinary Officer or the Emergency Animal Disease hotline on 1800 675 888.

Read more on DPIRD’s webpage Arthritis in sheep.

Image source: DPIRD

The animal production benefits are well-known, the economics are favourable, and the potential area in northern WA is large. The objective of this project, co-funded by DPIRD and the Northern Hub, is to de-risk adoption for beef producers in terms of the approvals process, identifying suitable soil types and improving the reliability of establishment. We currently have demonstration sites on 9 stations across the Kimberley and north Pilbara.

Image source: Geoff Moore

Advancements in genetics and nutrition will reduce time to market and increase the quality of products delivered from northern Australia. This is a key focus in the work undertaken in the state’s northern research facilities, including the upgraded Kununurra feed yards, which provide capacity for feed trials and demonstration.

His vision is to increase the value of the northern Australian beef industry for regional and remote communities, particularly Aboriginal communities, by reducing industry risks through the creation of new domestic and international markets and by intensifying feedbase production systems to provide adequate nutrition in the north.

Image source:  DPIRD

LambEx 2024

Senior Development Officer Katherine Davies, Research Scientist Claire Payne and Principal Policy Officer Daniel Hird, manned the DPIRD stand and attended presentations and panel discussions on key industry issues.

The team highlighted the scale of Western Australia's $1.1 billion sheep industry and the strategic research projects within the livestock directorate. Featured projects included FEED365, Objective Carcase Measurement, FutureSheep, and Adding Sustainability Traits to the MLA Resource Flock.

Of particular interest was a summary of ongoing research at the Katanning Research Station. The stand also featured seasonal extension resources, newsletters, and tools available to sheep producers.

A key attraction at the stand was the lamb carcass, where Claire demonstrated the use of microwave technology to measure carcass characteristics in real time.

Latest n-ewes

• Read the latest Ovine Observer Issue 103. 
• Applications are open for interest-free loans. Farm businesses can apply for $25,000 to cover the costs of stockfeed, water and transportation.
• See how our Katanning Research Station saved on supplementary feeding with saltbush.
• Support for southern rangelands pastoralists to build drought resilience with grants for projects that boost business profitability and revitalise the landscape.
• Take a look at the latest Seasonal Climate Outlook.

Subscribe to Ovine Observer - a quarterly newsletter on issues relating to sheep production and research. 

Further information

WA Sheep and Cattle Industry news from the Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development (DPIRD). If you have any questions, or require further information please email livestock@dpird.wa.gov.au

Subscribe to StockedUp Livestock Industry news

Important disclaimer 
The Chief Executive Officer of the Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development and the State of Western Australia accept no liability whatsoever by reason of negligence or otherwise arising from the use or release of this information or any part of it.

Copyright © State of Western Australia (Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development), 2024.