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A SHEEP breed which promises to add-value to both meat and wool was launched at last month’s South Island Agricultural Field Days.
The Ile de France breed originates, as the name suggests, from Europe where it is the main maternal line in the southern half of France. However, it is also established in Australia and South Africa which is where the lines being imported into New Zealand are coming from.
“The bulk of them are in South Africa’s high veldt,” says Murray Rohloff, one of the breeders behind the initiative. “They’re very well adjusted to arid conditions; tough as nails.”
South African genetics were imported into Australia and after the minimum three generations there, semen from three rams imported to New Zealand Australia in 2008. Five live rams and frozen semen from another three rams have been imported since.
While the initial driver behind importing the breed was to facilitate out-of-season breeding – three lambings in two years is the norm for some producers with the breed overseas – Rohloff and colleague Peter Ponsonby have since found meat and wool traits alone are enough to justify their integration into certain New Zealand systems.
Crossing with Romney ewes for example saw hogget fleece micron cut by eight to below 30 with only a 0.4kg or 10% loss in fleece weight from the first cross progeny. Meanwhile, carcase meat yields, as measured by ViaScan, were increased from 52% to 55-56% (see panel).
“They didn’t make the lambs any longer or taller, just thicker and deeper… We have a wad of third party verified data now supporting our claims about the growth ability of this breed”.
Lambs are born small, hence with few difficulties, and are very vigorous, “a bit like a Cheviot lambs,” says Rohloff.
Over the last three lambings singles have averaged 575g/day and twins 440g/day at Ponsonby’s farm, Lawrence, Otago. Even after the spring blizzards of 2010, singles topped 500g/day and twins 420g/day.
Put across Merinos, Ile de France sired lambs have, at 15 weeks, weaned 5kg heavier than Border Leicesters. In another Merino flock high ewe losses from “hung” terminal-sired lambs was eliminated by switching to the Ile de France and 80% of lambs were drafted prime at 12 weeks, averaging 17.9kg.
The first-cross or halfbred progeny out of Merinos produce a fleece still fine enough to qualify for high value contracts such as Merino New Zealand’s that feed into the US premium sock market brand, Smartwool, adds Rohloff.
The first-cross ewes are also proving more fertile, and perhaps more importantly, better able to raise twins in a high country environment.
“The Ile de France has a milking ability close to the Poll Dorset, but it has the ability and hardiness to cope with dry conditions.”
Merino cross progeny are white footed, and as such feet would probably prove too soft for wetter environments down country, he admits. However, the broader foot of the Ile de France does improve structure in the first cross, increasing the claw gap compared to straight Merinos.
Romney first crosses are black-footed and haven’t presented any problems.
Rohloff says he and Ponsonby have been “keeping things low key” with the breed since they started importing them and most farmers wouldn’t have come across them unless they’re dealing with the breeders he and Ponsonby have been working with.
However, the Lincoln event marked their official launch so things would be higher profile from now on.
Hybrid vigour probably accounts for some of the gains seen in first cross progeny, he acknowledges, but as they’ve back-crossed ewes with Ile de France semen to produce three-quarter, seven-eighth, and higher ratio mothers, they’ve found fleece and carcase gains maintained or increased.
Consequently their recommendation to farmers running pure Romney or equivalent strongwool breeds or composites, is to “try to get as much Ile de France in there as you can.”
For Merino farmers, running a Merino x Ile de France halfbred flock may well be the best bet.
No purebred females have been imported because it costs about $2000/lamb born to do so due to embryo transfer and/or import costs and quarantine requirements. Such costs mean breeders who do take that approach naturally are loathe to cull such costly material, and consequently may not be as ruthless in their selections for the New Zealand environment as they perhaps should be, he adds.
“It costs a lot of money and you don’t get very big numbers which means you’re creating a population out of a very small genetic base.”
For those keen to produce three lamb crops every two years, “that option is still in them,” adds Rohloff.
“All our modelling using Farmax management software shows producing three lamb crops every two years increases profits from each kilo of pasture dry matter to match dairy conversion.”
More frequent lambing trials funded by Alliance Group over a decade ago, carried out by Ponsonby, also showed an increase in farm profit by a third over high producing traditional systems.
While wool returns continue in the doldrums, smart sheep farmers are looking for alternatives for a product that currently cost more to get off a sheep's back than it's worth. One such initiative is run by husband and wife team Hayden and Anastasia Tristram who farm at Wanstead in the Central Hawke's Bay. Mark Daniel reports.
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