RESULTS from a major wether trial have reinforced to the industry that the best genetics are vital in being profitable.
The trial, run by Craig Wilson Livestock over the past two years, involved 30 teams of 30 wethers.
Trial organiser Craig Wilson said it was interesting to see the range of profits among the 30 teams, given entrants in the trial were all progressive.
"The reality is you wouldn't enter sheep in Australia's largest trial if you thought your flock's genetics were uncompetitive," Mr Wilson said.
"When there is this much variation at the top end of the industry, it highlights why dramatic change must occur in the genetic makeup of the nation's Merino sheep population."
Mr Wilson said genetics was the one thing producers had direct control over, and the trial showed it could have a huge impact on profitability.
He said the teams which performed well in the trial ran at a high stocking rate and had a "track history of performance at other trials in different environments".
"The teams with the best balance of figures, constitution and conformation always come out on top," Mr Wilson said.
"And the top four performing teams in this trial all use on-farm objective testing in their ewe selection."
The competition's final shearing was completed at Taralga, near Goulburn in NSW, last week.
The results were calculated after two shearings, which were averaged and then multiplied by four to create earnings over the four-year life of a wether.
Meat values were assigned by recording the shorn body weights and fat scores of the wethers over the two years of the trial, with the results averaged.
First place was awarded to Sam Weir's team of Bogo-blood wethers from Bookham, near Yass, in NSW.
The top team of wethers had a 22 per cent higher wool return than the average of the competition entrants, and a slightly lower meat value.
