Merino ewe mortality – prevalence, causes and mitigation strategies

Merino ewe mortality – prevalence, causes and mitigation strategies

This four-year project commenced in 2023, and involves Merino producers, vets, researchers and advisors who are collaborating to investigate Merino ewe mortality on a national scale.  

Reducing ewe mortality during lambing requires an understanding why ewes die and how management practices can prevent these deaths.

Lifting ewe survival will positively impact lamb survival and help to improve animal welfare and productivity outcomes, all of which are priorities for the sheep industry.

This four-year project aims to understand the prevalence and causes of Merino ewe mortality and explore a range of intervention strategies to determine the most practical and cost-effective strategies Merino producers can implement on-farm.

The first step in the project was to gather insights from Merino producers around the country about the incidence of Merino ewe losses in commercial sheep enterprises over a 12-month period. This was done through a comprehensive online survey. Data is currently being analysed and results will be shared with industry later in 2024.

Earlier this year, the team has recruited passionate Merino producers to partner with vets in on-farm trials to find answers to improving Merino ewe survival. Seven producer groups have now been formed in key Merino production regions across Australia. Each group has a vet supporting them to gather data and to perform post-mortems to identify the causes of death over the lambing period through to lamb marking. The data recorded during this phase will inform the selection of intervention strategies for trialling on farm during 2025.

As the project progresses findings will be shared with industry, including possible causes of Merino deaths, potential barriers to adopting practices aligned with reducing ewe mortality, and cost-benefit information for intervention strategies.

This project is funded by MLA and AWI.