A Commercial Comparison of Ewe Breeds for Reproduction, Wool and Lamb Growth

Sheep farmers are actively seeking unbiased information on the performance of sheep breeds and bloodlines within breeds to help improve their overall profitability. To help answer this question the Elmore Field Days Inc ran a comparison to determine the merit of five ewe genotypes for prime lamb and wool production from 2009 to 2014. Each of the five genotypes were represented by 42 ewes randomly selected from three properties. The ewes were joined annually to terminal sires for prime lamb production and run together as one mob except at lambing; there were six opportunities to lamb, the first as ewe lambs. Ewe genotypes compared were the Border Leicester x Merino cross (BL x Mo), local Merinos from northern Victoria and three dual purpose Merinos, Centre Plus Merinos, the Dohne Merino and the South African Meat Merino (SAMM). The local Merinos produced the heaviest fleeces and Centre Plus Merinos the finest. The BL x Mo and SAMMs had the highest reproduction but lighter and coarser fleeces.