WELCOME TO THE HR+UPDATE
Dear Sheep Breeder,
The world has changed with COVID-19, however primary production is one of the few remaining industries which has not yet been adversely affected. The price of lamb remains strong ($8-9/kg) and, while wool has eased in recent months, it is still a profitable 1400c/kg. With the best seasonal outlook in recent years, there's an outstanding opportunity to make money from your sheep.
To keep delivering on our promise to position you for success, we've created the HR+UPDATE - a monthly update of on-farm news, industry and client insights. Please get in touch with any comments or feedback.
STUD NEWS
It's been a busy start to the year for the HR team; starting with drought-feeding, shearing and joining ewes throughout the worst Summer we've experienced. Despite this, we managed to achieve excellent conception rates (95% of the 8,000 ewes joined scanned in lamb) with our first lambs expected in coming weeks. Fast-forward to April and we've had over 400 mls of rain and are now looking into the best start to Autumn in memory.
Whilst isolating, we're planting veggie patches and playing softball with the team, pumping water and ordering gators to safely muster through the wet. A great problem to have - there's more money in mud! We are building and shedding our sale team and already seeing strong weight gains for our top rams (+380g per day, with our shedded rams 8-9kg heavier than at this time last year), and have just finished our crutching program ahead of lambing in May.
Our 2019 Poll purchases have delivered (PB1830137 purchased for $22,000 and PB180360 for $21,000) when joined with HR ewes they have bred strong top sires for 2020 and beyond. We will continue to focus heavily on Poll genetics, delivering to our clients' bottom lines.
We look forward to welcoming you at Haddon Rig and and online for our Annual 2-Tooth Sale on the 10th of September. Following last year's succesful sale (111 Merino rams averaging $2349 and 39 Poll Merino rams averaging $2577), this year we will offer a team of approximately 150 Merino rams and 50 Poll Merino rams. There's a great team this year - very even (balancing body length, barrels, width, shape and wool quality) with a 19.2 micron average across both Merinos and Poll Merinos.
CLIENT NEWS
Congratulations to Michael & Pauline Ricketts for their Tumbleton North, Young flock dispersal sale. Over 1,000 merino ewes scanned in lamb to Haddon Rig Merino sires at 172%. They made an average of $363/head to a top of $400/head achieved for the 2018 drop ewes. Merino ewes joined to White Suffolk rams made between $320-360/head. The strong sale was a testament to Michael & Pauline’s management and over a decade of classing by HR representative, Andy McLeod.
The Ricketts have been loyal supporters of HR bloodlines; consistently acquiring top sires at our annual On-Property 2-Tooth sale. The result shows that great genetics combined with best practice management is a very profitable investment. Says Michael "We chose HR as a stud that would produce the same consistent results in our flock. Haddon Rig rams have plenty of vigour about them - there's no doubt about that. HR progeny supported a merino flock producting 8.3kg+ wool cuts ($115-$125 income) plus 1.25 lambs. That's a very productive sheep!" We wish Michael and Pauline all the best for the future, it's been a pleasure working with them and supporting their success!
We were proud to promote the sale of HR bloodlines for the Ricketts, with another client (Charlie Blomfield and El Falkiner at Boridgeree) attending the sale and purchasing the ewes. The HR team is available to support future client sales. Please see the HR+Select section of our website for further details, or contact admin@haddon-rig.com.au
Thanks for reading our inaugural edition of the HR+Update. Wishing you all the best for a safe and prosperous 2020. The team at HR is committed to supporting and enabling your success. Please get in touch if you have any feedback or comments!