Moses & Son and our farm on the outskirts of Temora, is one of a current three properties involved in the Merino Lifetime Productivity Project, under MerinoLink Management. This project ultimately aims to produce a report and evaluation towards answering some of the most frequently asked questions in the Merino Industry, while providing supportive data towards the: trade-off between lamb and wool production, how to best select for lifetime productivity and the role that genetics plays in generating lifetime returns.
To grasp a further understanding of the Merino Lifetime Productivity Project please click here.
The below update on this project was prepared by Sally Martin, ML Site Project Manager.
Lambing started on the 26th May (first lambs born) and ran for approx. 7 days. Lambs were to be tagged at 14-21 days however this was not possible as there has been extensive rainfall events (which is very welcome). Yarding and tagging would have compromised lamb survival.
We had a few days clear of rain last week and were able to tag, score and DNA sample (TSU) the lambs. Tagging and scoring took place over three days (28th to 30th June). We have completed all the early trait scoring (BCOV, BRWR, SPIG, FPIG, SPOT, BLK, SEX) as well as Birth Coat (BCOAT) a site specific trait, data has been submitted to AMSEA. There were 6 people involved in the tagging, DNA and scoring process.
Table 1 – 2016 Tagging Summary
| Paddock # | # ewes | Single | Single Total | Twin | Twin Total | Totals | % | ||
| Female | Male | Female | Male | ||||||
| 1 | 187 | 93 | 78 | 171 | 171 | 91% | |||
| 8 | 115 | 73 | 83 | 156 | 156 | 136% | |||
| 10 | 172 | 76 | 69 | 145 | 145 | 84% | |||
| 12 & 11 | 224 | 141 | 129 | 270 | 270 | 121% | |||
| Totals | 698 | 169 | 147 | 316 | 214 | 212 | 426 | 742 | 106% |
Click here to view (figure 1) – Temora rainfall 1 May to 3 July 2016.
