Table A:
Fine wool earning capacity of a hogget and ewe flock, or wether flock on Marlborough high/hill country (not including labour expenses but includes shearing, animal health) 2012 prices. The wether flock grossed about 60% of the ewe flock. Merino wether flock
Merino ewe and hogget flock
Income/su
$92.50
$145.91
Gross Margin/su
$78.35
$132.55
Dry matter eaten/su
654 kg
546 kg
Income kg/DM
$0.14
$0.267
Quality of DM eaten
Poor
Medium
Estimated labour time
2.5 to 3 times the labour input of wethers
Assumptions
• Mixed age ewes and wethers both clip 4kg fleece wool at $20/kg greasy, hoggets 2.5kg at $25/kg greasy. • Wether worth 0.8 su/head and ewe 1 su/head. • Wether hogget worth $110 to purchase and old wethers culled at $90. • In Merino ewe system the wether lambs sold at $125 and old ewes culled at $80, lambing 90%. • Shearing and animal health costs same for ewe/wether.
M M
44
Merino Review 2019
S
Controlling parasitism can have a marked effect on wool weight, however, so a drench or shift to fresh pasture may pay big dividends in a better fleece. The perfect niche for the wether seems to be the country that simply is not good enough for a ewe flock to make an acceptable lambing percentage. If switching to ewes requires another labour unit on the station, this must be weighed up as well. A change to ewes, combined with finishing more progeny, may easily justify another labour unit and improve the overall station performance and lifestyle for sole operators. Running ewes on wether country is likely to be during summer with lambs at foot, as a weaned ewe pre-tupping or mid-pregnancy. There are climate risks to pregnant ewes at elevation, extra mustering and grazing pressure issues with ewes/lambs and some challenges flushing ewes on wether country. Down country lambing areas need to be found for the extra ewes as well. It is unlikely that the original wether stocking rate would be possible with ewes. Change is the only constant. When prices shift, land development rolls out or when management and labour inputs change, farmers are advised to review the place of their wethers. This must be a whole-farm approach as their removal or replacement can have ripple effects across other farm systems and the ecosystem.