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| Why Join Merinos to Merinos? - 10-04-2006 |
Source:mga |
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Key note speaker David Sackett was quick to point out the big difference between this concept as a dual purpose business system, rather than trying to breed a dual purpose sheep.
The concept that we will compromise our Merino quality by trying to breed a dual purpose commodity was strongly put. He warned woolgrowers to be careful of where they were taking their own flocks and that whilst it might be a hard call with profitability for some at the moment, in the next 5 to 10 years out is where the issue will be. Whilst there might appear to be a short term benefit, over a longer period, Sackett suggested it was much better to have specialist wool sheep and specialist meat sheep.
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David Sackett noted that the Merino ewe base underpins the whole of the sheep industry and that the flock structure is being eroded. Those producers who are operating in the dual purpose market are keeping older ewes longer creating significant performance losses. We are slowly running down the capital base in Merino ewes, in the age structure of the national ewe flock, creating lower lamb prices, lower wool prices. Merino ewe breeders have been subsidising the meat industry for some time. This is unsustainable as the dual purpose enterprise is running down our national ewe base.
The profitability gap has been steadily closing when comparing Merino wool sheep joined to a terminal sire against the self-replacing Merino flock and in many cases due to the depletion of the younger age Merino ewe base, data suggests that this gap is now only about 25 cents/dse between the different enterprises. This gap will continue to be challenged. Sackett noted that the dual purpose advantage is coming to an end.
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