Lamb Survival - SE QLD Rangelands

Summary

This integrated R&D producer demonstration site (PDS) addresses the ‘Our Livestock’ priority of the MLA Strategic Plan by facilitating and demonstrating the adoption of objective management technologies to increase on farm productivity of sheep. By targeting reproductive performance, it also contributes to the priorities of the Sheep Reproduction Strategic Partnership.    

The lamb survival project will upskill core and observer producers, and producers nationally, by providing the skills and confidence to use the data collected on their sheep that can be interpreted with reliable confidence to help make informed decisions. With the investment in remote objective weight measurement (WOW) and objective condition scoring, this will have direct influence in increasing reproduction and decreasing mortality in the core and observer producers breeding flocks. This will directly improve their productivity and profitability. 

Objectives

By December 2025 in the SE QLD rangeland region, the project will demonstrate on six core producers’ properties the benefit of using Walk Over Weighing (WOW) and Condition Scoring (CS) to monitor weight / condition score and the resultant change on nutritional management and health decisions leading to a higher ewe conception and lamb survival rate of 23% over 4 years. 

1. The groups objectives for the PDS in order are:  

   • Conception (expressed as a % to total ewes joined) Increase by 15% in 4 years 

   • Lambs weaned to ewes joined (expressed as a %) Increase by 23% in 4 years. 

   • Lambing Ewe Survival (expressed as a %) 98.5% ewe survival in 4 years. 

   • Dry ewes at Lamb Marking (expressed as a %). 98.5% wet ewes in 4 years.  

   • All of these are measurable, with year 1 the start of the benchmarking process in core producers’ trial and control mobs.  

2. Core and observer producers will be trained through workshops in understanding the nutritional requirements of the sheep and to implement the nutritional program. 

3. Complete a benefit cost analysis of the advantages of this approach. By investing in the preventive objective tools of WOW and the hand-held CS, are core producers better off economically vs not using these tools. By having a trial and control mob on each of the core producers farms we will be able to complete a benefit cost analysis. This will include the purchase cost of the WOW and the hand-held objective condition score tool by producers once the 4-year project is completed. 

4. 100% of core producers and 80% of observer producers will have increased their knowledge, confidence and skill in WOW and CS. 

5. 90% of the core producers and 40% of the observer producers will have adopted WOW and CS in their sheep breeding program. 

6. Active producers (core and observer) using WOW and CS will know at what tracking weight / CS loss data signal (eg 100 gram /weight loss over 7 days) to implement preventive nutritional / health inputs to maintain good conception rates and live lamb body weights.  

7. Demonstrate to observer producers, through workshops, pregnancy scanning and condition scoring to help increase producer adoption. It would be expected that from the 180 observer producers 65% will be using pregnancy scanning by the end of the 4-year program.

Progress

Over the course of 2024, this project has expanded its reach to include an additional 12 producers from the Thargominda and Bollon regions. This is in response to a greater focus being given to the core components of the project, being improving lamb survival through the monitoring and management of ewe performance. Following a period of trialling in-paddock walk-over weigh units to aid in this, the decision was made to cease the use of this technology due to implementation challenges involving livestock usage and weigh station mobility in the context of variable seasons.  

Pregnancy scanning is underway by project participants, with cases of Humpy Back being identified as having likely contributed to cases of reduced foetuses' being carried by ewes.