"Errors using inadequate data are much less than those using no data at all." ~ Charles Babbage
Everywhere I go currently it's green and beautiful 🌿. It's great to see some optimism return in the industry!
Longreach sale is coming up 19 July 2024.
I hope you're finding these monthly emails helpful. It's my goal to help you improve your genetic gain and make you think outside the circling mob so that you live the life you want to live without being tied down to farm work. If you have any comments or suggestions, you can reply to this email or leave a comment on the website.
Mandatory EID coming soon
Hopefully, this is not your first time hearing that mandatory EID is coming for sheep and goats next year. From 1 January 2025 (at least in Qld and NSW), all lambs and kids born will need to be tagged with an EID. Then, from 1 January 2027, all sheep & goats leaving the property need to have an EID tag.
I come across the occasional producer who is excited about this, but most are more like 😠🤬😬🤮!
However, I think that arguing or fighting this will ultimately be a waste of time.
Instead, that energy is better spent figuring out how to make a return on that extra dollar per sheep we are being forced to spend.
One way is through more accurate classing decisions so that you keep sheep with the best genetic potential.
Classing a maiden ewe, with our screen of ASBVs in the background
We've spent the last several articles talking about visual indicators of the best sheep, but it's important to realise that the environment and history of that sheep has a big influence over what we see on the day.
I'm sure you've looked at sheep at marking or weaning time and seen some that look outstanding compared to the rest. Then you discover why: no lambs! She may have the most valuable fleece now, but she is far less productive than her mates that have lambs.
Last year we had a few rams being bullied, so we put them into a separate paddock. Perhaps it was the extra clover, but these rams gained 440g/day for 2 months while the rest “only” gained 200g/day.
Key takeaway: if you have mobs of sheep that have been run separately, they need to be classed separately as well. Otherwise, you might be selecting animals that have been fed better, not bred better.
Pregnancy status
Another major influence over how a sheep looks is whether she raised a twin, a single, or no lamb recently.
The twin raising ewes essentially spent their last few months in a worse paddock because those lambs took more nutrition to raise.
We love having lots of lambs, but it does take a bit out of the ewes.
Practically, what this means is that you must pregnancy scan your ewes for multiples and identify them.
You could do this with different coloured tags, or buttons, or ear notches, but here's where EIDs can start to be useful.
Using EID
Towards the end of the year, I will write some articles about different hardware options and how to set data up to be easily useable and useful so that you are ready for EID.
For now though, you just want to have a field for "Pregnancy Status" with 3 options: Single, Twin or Empty. Depending on who does your scanning, they may already record that information for you!
EIDs can be extremely useful if you know what data will help you achieve your goals.
Use this information when you class your ewes. Ewes that raise twins will visually appear worse than ewes that raise singles, even if they have the same genetic potential.
Ideally, you would draft the ewes into groups so that you class all ewes that raised twins together. Alternatively, you could scan her EID tag to see the past pregnancy status and take that into account as you class. Perhaps that ewe that looks rundown has had twins for each of the last 3 years, so her genetic potential is very high despite how she looks now!
At some point you may even want to use this data as part of your selection criteria to find those overperforming ewes that consistently raise twins.
Another option without EID is to keep your twin bearing ewes in a separate mob up until after you next class them. An added benefit is being able to provide them with better quality paddocks to help them out!
Keeping and breeding the best sheep is challenging. That's part of what makes it so fun and interesting!
Until next time, happy breeding and enjoy the green grass!
The Rissmerino team
https://xkcd.com/2582/