Robertsons hit sweet spot to be WAMMCO's October Producer of the Month

An experimental purchase of 100 5.5-year-old SheepMaster ewes mated to SheepMaster rams from Phil Corker, Blackwood SheepMaster stud, Kulikup, in 2021, has resulted in a full breed transition process for Scotts Brook producers, Wayde and Emma Robertson.

Wayde and Emma, along with their children Henry (5) and Florence (2), Wayde's parents, Grant and Helen and staff Neil Bardot and Damien Herbert, run the 2850 arable hectare property 'Yalup Farm' and were recently awarded WAMMCO's October Producer of the Month title.

When WAMMCO visited the property, the Robertsons were days away from starting their 2024 harvest, while also cleaning up a recent hay program, weighing lambs and preparing for lamb shearing.

The property is currently run as a 70:30 crop: livestock mix, with 850ha canola, 650ha barley, 350ha wheat and 145ha oats, part of which is cut as hay along with 4500 ewes.

The ewes are pastured on annual rye grass and Balansa and Daliak based sub-clover pastures.

The winning consignment of 252 lambs was processed at WAMMCO on October 14 and averaged 21.12 kilograms and achieved a 97.62 per cent WAMMCO Sweet spot result.

The consignment consisted of both traditional crossbred lambs sired by White Suffolk and Poll Dorset rams and out of Merino ewes as well as SheepMaster wether lambs.

However, it is the performance of the SheepMaster breed which is driving change at Yalup Farm.

After attending multiple shedding ram sales, Wayde and Emma settled on the locally produced SheepMaster.

Ms Roberston said the attraction to the SheepMaster breed centred around the breed's low labour inputs, clean shedding traits and ability to mate ewe lambs.

Over the past three years they have been impressed with their calm and predictable nature, productivity off less and often lower grade feedstuffs which is complementary with their cropping program in terms of stubble management, and their ability to hit desired liveweight targets at an early age producing an "abattoir saleable" product.

Rams are selected on both visual traits and available data.

Length of body, shorter legs producing a "square" hindquarter, good feet and clean shedding are key visual traits along with good early weight gains and selective breeding values.

The 2024-25 mating season is the final part of the genetic transitional change.

This season 2000 Beaufort Vale blood Merino ewes will be joined for the last time to White Suffolk and Poll Dorset rams, while a further 2500 SheepMaster ewes will be joined to SheepMaster rams in early January for six weeks.

All mature ewes are pregnancy scanned and if dry are sold for mutton.

From mid-February to the end of March, the 7-8-month-old SheepMaster ewe lambs, most being above 50kg, are joined to SheepMaster rams for a further six-week joining finishing at the end of March.

Previous lamb markings have resulted in more than 100pc marking rates across all ewes joined with the mature ewes marking 120pc and the ewe lambs, an acceptable 70pc marking.

Mr Robertson describes the SheepMaster ewe as an excellent, protective mother with minimal losses from dystokia.

While they continue to build their SheepMaster ewe numbers, the Robertsons are not culling heavily, but when numbers reach 4500 ewes, key selection focus points will be further boosting the reproductive output, clean shedding, early growth, while ensuring the mature ewe is not too large to impact stocking rates.

The turnoff of SheepMaster wether lambs starts during October/November at about 4.5 months of age with all lambs weighed before being sent to WAMMCO.

Traditionally the SheepMaster lambs weigh a minimum of 47kg liveweight before being sent to Katanning, 2-3kg lighter than their traditional crossbred lambs.

Crossbred lambs not making weight are shorn and then finished in a feedlot, while the SheepMaster wether lambs are finished on crop residue and sold in January/February.