Choice of sheep enterprise affects production and risk

This study examined the extent to which choice of sheep enterprise could increase production from the same pasture base. A replicated experiment was conducted between 2006 and 2010 in south-eastern NSW. A July lambing Merino x Merino flock (Winter Lambing Merino) was compared with Merino ewes lambing in September to both Merino and Terminal rams (Later Lambing), and a Merino flock with half the ewes lambing in July to Terminal rams and half the ewes lambing in September to Merino rams (Split Joined). The Split Joined enterprise performed as well as the Winter Lambing Merino in poor years, but had the capacity to be more productive in better years, while the Later lambing system was less resilient under drought conditions, and attracted high levels of supplementary feeding such that in drought years it produced the lowest gross margins. The results show that production can be doubled through choice of lambing time, stocking rate and ram breed, but that drought and inflexible management can have a larger adverse impact in some sheep enterprises than others.