Aussies missing out on price premiums
Demand for branded, unmulesed wool is up
PRODUCERS breeding sheep free of body wrinkle and with a bare breech are tapping into lucrative markets for non-mulesed wool.
A wrinkle-free area around the breech combined with a bare area around the tail made non-mulesing an easy step to take, according to New South Wales stud merino breeder Chad Taylor.
Mr Taylor, of Wellington, stopped mulesing his merino sheep in 2006, opening the doors to markets for non-mulesed wool offering premiums of 50c–$1/kg.
“If we are not breeding wool right around the tail of the sheep then there is less chance of catching the dag and urine streams, which makes it quite simple to stop mulesing,” he said.
Mr Taylor relied on feedback on dag scores in sire evaluation trials to fine-tune body and breech wrinkle in his Mumblebone stud rams.
He said Australia was losing significant market share to other countries marketing non-mulesed wool.
“Given there is a demand for unmulesed wool, we want to be in a position to supply that demand by breeding sheep free of wrinkle and with a bare breech, eliminating the need for mulesing,” he said.
“We can then tap into these more lucrative markets with premiums of up to 50 cents to $1 a kilogram.
“We are heading towards a branded non-mulesed product and this type of sheep will facilitate that as more clients are in a position to stop mulesing and see the benefits of breeding sheep that don’t need to be mulesed.”
A Mumblebone ram has emerged in the New England Sire Evaluation Association’s trial as a trait leader for reduced breech cover, low breech wrinkle and dag, and low body wrinkle.
The ram, Mumblebone 13-0389, also ranked as a leader in clean and greasy
fleece weight, fibre diameter cooefficient of variation, staple length, eye muscle depth, bodyweight and a low percentage of culls at classing.
The ram was a trait leader in the Dual Purpose Plus Index, which focused on maintaining fibre diameter and staple strength coupled with increased body weight and carcass traits.
He was also a leader in the
Wool Production Plus Index, which placed selection emphasis on increased fleece weight while maintaining fibre diameter.
The trial was run at Armidale under the Merino Lifetime Productivity Project with the aim of increasing the understanding of the genetic capacity for the merino ewe to deliver life-long, high-quality wool, lambs and meat.
Mr Taylor said Mumblebone
13-0389 combined handy growth figures with white wool and high worm resistance.
“He is producing a very white wool and it stood up to the high rainfall conditions in the New England,” he said.
“He has got a lot to offer the industry.”
Mr Taylor said genetic gain was not achieved simply by selecting ribbon winners.
“Sire evaluations are a great way of measuring a
sire’s true genetic merit, under the same environmental factors, right away from artificial feeding,” he said.
Mumblebone stud will stage a field day on September 19 featuring Russ Davis from Ceva Animal Health, Mark Ferguson from New Zealand Merino Company, Jenni Turner from Fox and Lillie, and Nuffield scholar Hannah Marriott.
❝ Given there is a demand for unmulesed wool, we want to be in a position to supply that demand.
— Chad Taylor, Mumblebone stud