THIRD: VERY few first-cross ewes are fortunate enough to lamb down in a vineyard.

Unless, of course, they come from the 3200ha Boolringar Station, near Lucindale in South Australia.


Once the 50ha vineyard has been harvested in April, joined ewes move in to clean up the fallen grapes and trim the grass, ready for lambing in late autumn and early winter.

"They stay there, subject to feed, until bud burst in September," owner David Brown said.

"The timing for the sheep and vineyard is perfect."

And the routine obviously suits the offspring.

Mr Brown's consignment of 522 lambs, processed in January last year, took out third place in the 2008 Weekly Times-RAS prime lamb carcass competition.

The lambs were out of first-cross Merino-Border Leicester ewes and sired by Poll Dorset rams.

They weighed an average 24.67kg and had a lean meat yield of 55.8 per cent.

This produced a $3.70 a head premium, or 15c/kg on Castricums' Viascan imaging system grid.

The crossbred ewes are part of the Browns' mixed-farming business, which includes 3000 first-cross ewes, 2500 Angus cows and the vineyard.

They also have 100ha of pine plantations and 200ha of lucerne on the property, which is managed by Chris Williams.

Mr Brown has another 1000ha property, at Mountadam, in the Barossa Valley, which is home to 1000 big-framed Merino ewes, 350 Angus cows and another 80ha of vineyard.

Both properties have an historical 650mm rainfall, although this has not been apparent in the past few dry years.

Boolringar's dryland pasture mix includes clover, cocksfoot and phalaris. Barley crops are sown to produce grain and prepare ground for improved pastures.

In the past three years, this barley phase has been followed by sowing of lucerne, which provides an ideal summer feed.

Another feature of barley is its tolerance to chemicals that control dock, a problem on some of the heavier ground.

While there is capacity for 100ha of flood irrigation using ground water, Mr Brown has opted for dryland pastures.

"In my opinion (flood irrigation) is not cost-effective," he said.

Mr Brown said having Merinos on one farm and crossbreds on the other, some distance apart, helped avoid any contamination issues with the wool.

Mountadam's big-framed Merino ewes are joined to Inverbrackie Border Leicesters to produce the first-cross ewes, which are then moved to the Lucindale property.

The first-cross ewes are joined to Gowan Brae Poll Dorset rams to produce prime lambs, which are mainly sold over the hooks and, depending on the season, are sometimes finished on grain.

The crossbreds are joined from December 1, for May to June lambing.

Stock are set-stocked on pastures that have traditionally grown well late into the year.

"In a normal year, it is warm enough to get early growth and we have green grass through to Christmas," Mr Brown said.

The tight period for stock feed is January-February, during which ewes are fed barley.

In the future, they will increasingly graze the lucerne.

"Lucerne will give use more options," Mr Brown said.

"This season, we have had two cuts of hay (off lucerne) and are half-way through to a third."

During the past year, 60ha of a lucerne and chicory mix was also sown, with pleasing results.

"I have been converted (to lucerne) this year. It has been fantastic," Mr Brown said.

Lambs are weaned in October and November, before shearing, and aimed to be sold at more than 20kg carcass weight.

"That is pretty much what the supermarkets want," Mr Brown said.

Those that don't make the weight are usually kept and fed, depending on seasonal conditions.