Australia-Big changes in sheep industry.
AUSTRALIA.
CHANGE IN SHEEP INDUSTRY.
Australia has always relied on the wool clip from sheep to keep the economy going, which caused the term riding on the sheep’s back. This was until recent years when the beef industry emerged as a world super power, in beef terms.
The sheep was kept for wool and the carcass was the by-product. In fact the castrated male sheep wethers, were kept for 5/6 years until their teeth break, giving a clip of high quality wool each year.
This has two advantages, the first is the sheep are hardy and tough, therefore the dingo’s or wild dogs pose no threat.
Secondly you have a large animal in 5 years fully grown, that will yield a large lean carcass of 25-30 kilos, ideal for the Moslem trade in the Middle East, these tough sheep usually gain weight on the sea voyage to the Arab countries, whereas females would have a problem to survive
This is how it used to be done and still is to a large extent, however the new market in the last few years for heavy lambs for the United States has changed all of this.
The Merino is fine for wool but lacking a good confirmation, for prime lamb and is also slow growing compared to Down sheep. Thus farmers have made the change to down sheep Suffolk, Textel, Dorset and Border Leicester, forgetting the wool business and utilizing the castrated males for prime lamb.
Wool exports are down to AU$2 billion for 2008, which used to be AU$6 billion in the boom times. The sheep population is down to 75.5 million, from a figure of 174 million in 1989.
While this has all been very negative for the wool industry, it has been nothing but positive for the lamb industry. Australia has gained a name second to none in the Unites States for quality and has been able to increase the price per kilo for prime lamb, in the European Union.
The trend looks set to continue, as the world is looking for more quality lambs and the returns are faster for the farmers in terms of cash flow, instead of a cheque for his wool clip he gets a cheque for his lambs.
