RUNNER UP: VALUE-adding to a cropping enterprise by grain-finishing lambs has been a profitable exercise during the drought for Graeme and Lyn Wright.

The grain growers, from Boree Creek, in the Riverina, have fine-tuned their genetics and nutrition to hit the heavy export grid specifications.


Graeme and Lyn added Prime SAMMs to their self-replacing dual-purpose flock of Bond sheep in 1998.

The resulting cross has given them lambs with a high-yielding, lean carcass, good enough to take second place in this year's Weekly Times-RAS export lamb carcass competition.

They entered a consignment of 224 second-cross Prime SAMM lambs, May-June drop.

The lambs had an average carcass weight of 23.34kg and a meat yield of 57 per cent, returning 401c/kg or $93.59 a head on the Castricum Bros grid, representing a premium of 17c/kg.

This month, a consignment of F2 Prime SAMM lambs, averaging 27.6kg carcass weight, returned $125.68 (including skins) when sold over the hooks.

The competition winners had been shorn in early December and finished on a ration of barley, barley straw, pellets, bentonite, salt and lime.

Graeme said the ration cost $250/tonne, with the lambs fed at 1.5kg a day each to average 200-300 grams of daily weight gain.

He said the lambs were initially raised on creep feeders before weaning and then moved on to lucerne pastures in spring and early summer.

Graeme and Lyn, with their son James and daughter-in-law Gail, run 200 Prime SAMM stud ewes and 700 Prime SAMM-Bond flock ewes joined to Prime SAMM rams.

The sheep dovetail with a 1000ha cropping enterprise and contract direct-drilling business.

The family switched to Prime SAMMs in an effort to boost lamb growth and feed conversion rates, lift ewe fertility and lower the micron in their existing self-replacing flock.

The sheep had to be easy care and good "do-ers" to fit in with the busy cropping operation.

Health concerns, particularly ovine Johne's Disease, also influenced the decision to run a self-replacing, closed flock.

"Fat had become a big issue with consumers and we liked the SAMMs for their lean carcass," Graeme said.

Prime SAMM-cross lambs compared favourably with those sired by two other meat breeds in a farm trial.

The growth rates and meat-to-bone ratio of the SAMM-cross progeny convinced the Wrights to obtain foundation genetics from the Bigga Prime SAMM stud at Hillcreston, in NSW.

Graeme said the SAMM infusion lifted conception and lamb-survival rates.

Last year, 150 per cent of lambs were marked from the stud ewe flock while the first and second-cross SAMM ewes averaged 120 per cent.

"Previously, we had struggled to get 100 per cent," Graeme said.

"Now, we can achieve 100 per cent-plus in a bad drought.

"The stud ewes have a 22-24 micron fleece and cut 3-5kg/head."

Each year, Graeme and Lyn sell rams privately into the sheep-wheat and higher-rainfall areas of Victoria and NSW through their Braeside stud.

Although the Wrights have not intentionally selected for bare breech, they have found the trait to be highly heritable.

As a result, they did not mules any sheep last year.

Graeme and Lyn have been keen to promote the commercial relevance of the Prime SAMM breed through carcass competitions.

"Over-the-hook is where the Prime SAMM really shines," Graeme said.

He weighs all lambs and drafts them accordingly before slaughter, to ensure most lambs hit the target specifications.

Home-grown barley and baled barley straw is value-added to finish about 800 lambs to 50kg liveweight each year.

The Wrights use their processor feedback sheets to fine-tune their breeding operation.

"We know the weights and grades, and can compare our sheep to all other lambs slaughtered," Graeme said.

"We can achieve a $5 a head premium by selling over the hooks.

"The Prime SAMMs give us a genetic advantage and suit our drier environment."