AS THE Merino industry emerges from the doldrums, Graeme Warner wishes he was 30 years younger.
"We have always been wool growers, but it was never profitable or exciting," Graeme said.
With a buoyant outlook for lamb and objective measurement at his fingertips, Graeme believes the Merino industry is on the cusp of a new era.
A third-generation farmer from Beechworth, in Victoria's North East, Graeme runs a Merino ewe flock on a 60:40 meat-wool split.
A shift to a dual-purpose Merino means wethers are off the farm at 22kg carcass weight by 12 months of age.
"I enjoy this move to dual-purpose sheep, with surplus sheep sold through the markets or over the hooks," Graeme said.
"Dual-purpose rams have added thickness to our carcasses, so they hang up well."
Graeme's son, Stuart, likes the challenge and skill involved with sheep breeding.
Stuart is developing a self-replacing maternal meat ewe to diversify the enterprise.
"But those ewes need to be fertile to compete with the Merinos," he said.
Graeme and his wife, Gwen, with Stuart and wife Katie, run the sheep, beef and vineyard mix on 400ha over seven holdings.
The granitic to sandy loam soils sit in a 900mm rainfall zone - traditional fine-wool country.
The sheep operation dovetails with a spring-calving 100-cow Angus herd, turning off weaner calves at 340kg liveweight.
The family is also in partnership with a neighbouring winery, Giaconda, in a 5ha vineyard of shiraz, chardonnay and roussanne grapes.
Their flock of 1000 Merino ewes, averaging 19.2 micron and cutting 5kg of fleece, are based on Winyar and CentrePlus bloodlines.
More recently, Graeme has added polled rams from Toland Merinos at Violet Town.
Graeme and Stuart don't get too wrapped up in bloodlines or the wool versus meat debate.
"A good Merino needs to be able to compete in both," Stuart said.
The rams they select must be trait leaders on the 7 per cent dual-purpose index, with an emphasis on growth, positive fat and high muscle.
They must be not greater than 19.5 micron and ideally have a yearling fat depth breeding value of -1 or less.
The Warners focus on clean fleece weight, aiming to remain in the top 15 per cent of rams available.
Their tip for picking the right ram is using breeding values and buying from studs using Merinoselect and Australian Sheep Breeding Values.
The flock has switched from autumn to spring lambing based on pasture growth, and from spring to autumn shearing to avoid mismothering.
Ewes are joined in March at 15 months in condition-score three after being supplementary-fed with triticale grain.
This year, they scanned at 137 per cent, with singles grazed on forage ryecorn crop and twin-bearing ewes on triticale.
Lambs are weaned at 12-14 weeks, but, with so much pasture growth, feeding ad-lib grain for finishing can be an issue.
The Warners are expecting their first drop of lambs from maternal composite rams selected for early maturity and muscle.
Stuart said the maternal composite (Coopworth-White Suffolk) would need extra advantages to compete with Merinos for profitability.
"They will need high weaning percentages to make up for the lack of wool," he said.
"Ewe lambs will need to get in lamb at seven months and slaughter lambs will need to be saleable by 20 weeks."
The last consignment of September-drop, April-shorn Merino wether lambs to be sold averaged 21kg carcass weight.
For mulesing, the Warners use clips on the ewes and chemical applications and crutching on wether lambs at weaning.
The family's breeding aims were reinforced this year with the prize of overall winner at the 2007-10 Ovens Valley wether trial.
