Rick Burke: Genetic potential not just numbers

Rick Burke.

I have a fellow farmer I always test my thoughts on. He lives in the Waikato. He runs a traditional farming system with 60 per cent sheep and 40 per cent cattle on his 4000 stock unit property.

His breeding ewes come from good Coopworth genetics but he's always struggled to get more than a 160 per cent scanning result.

This year, however, he has achieved 185 per cent ewes scanned in-lamb. The difference between this year and other years is that he has had an exceptional autumn. He's not alone as we've all had a good autumn and good scanning results, especially for later lambing ewes.

This has been a light bulb moment for him.

It demonstrates to him that he has been carrying too many ewes through the last few years through 'normal' average seasonal conditions which has meant they have not produced to their genetic potential.

He now realises numbers aren't everything and by reducing ewe numbers he can focus on finding the sweet spot with a good scanning result, fewer losses, less animal health costs and less stress on the farmer and stock.

I guess the same lesson can be applied to most of our farm systems, whether it be breeding ewes, finishing cattle or a dairy system we need to focus on maximising genetic potential resulting in 'profit being king before production' and more time for fishing!

CATTLE: With the NZ dollar firming against the US by 2 cents over the last month schedule prices for both 300kg c/w prime and bull have eased 10 cents to $5.60 and $5.55 respectively. The store market remains pretty steady $3.80 for 260kg l/w R1 steers and $3.60 for 260kg l/w R1 bulls.

SHEEP: Works lambs 17-19kg c/w has risen to $6.75kg c/w which is 15 cents up on last month, is this the peak? Store lambs 32 -35kg remain steady at $3.15kg l/w. 5-6yr-old scanned in lamb ewes at 185 per cent are making $140-$155.