Media Releases

Ewes for the future - progress report

20 November 2009

What’s the best sheep type for a combination of prime lamb and wool production? This question has been debated by sheep producers for years.

In January 2009, the Elmore Field Days trial, Ewes for the Future – Lambs, Wool and Profit, began. The trial aims to compare the merits of five alternative sheep types. The results will assist sheep producers determine the merits of a number of ewe breed alternatives for prime lamb production.

The main characters of interest are lambing percentages, lamb growth rates and wool production.
At the start of the trial, a total of 210 ewe lambs were delivered to the site. The five breed-types are each represented by 42 ewes. Each breed type group was randomly selected from three properties, with 14 ewe lambs per property after an allowance for culling. The ewes are run together as one mob except at lambing.

It is planned to continue the trial for at least four lambings. The lambs were fed a high quality
diet to reach a suitable joining weight in late February 2009, when they were joined to White Suffolk rams.

For more details please click here to download the full report (PDF 652KB).