Robert and Scott Mudford with Parkdale SRS® ewes. A mob of 599 Parkdale SRS® ewes weaned 920 lambs or 153 per cent. Image courtesy Mudford family
Plain bodied, non-mulesed sheep with fly strike resistance and producing high fleece weights of soft wool are saving hundreds of thousands of dollars in chemical and labour costs each year for a central NSW family.
This year marks 21 years since the Mudford family ceased mulesing – they transitioned from mulesing 70 per cent of the ewe lambs in 2003 to 100 per cent the following year.
Don and Pam Mudford operate the Parkdale SRS® Stud and manage the family’s 5532ha aggregation near Dubbo.
The couple and their family run 25,000 sheep at a peak but dry conditions have reduced numbers to 23,000, including 1100 stud ewes.
Son Robert and his wife Meg own The Belars, Narromine, while son Scott and wife Jan owns Wandella, at Collie, and the two families own Greenvale in partnership. The Mudford’s western NSW holdings at Enngonia and Barringun cover 33198ha and carry 4000 breeding ewes.
Based on Soft Rolling Skins (SRS®) principles, the Parkdale sheep are fast growing, have a well aligned staple, high fertility and fecundity with an average weaning rate of 137 per cent. They have not been mulesed since 2004 and there is a selection focus on high genetic fat cover and eye muscle for increased fertility and lamb survival.
The family’s SRS® journey started in 1989 when research scientist, the late Dr Jim Watts held several workshops in the area were attended by Don and his brother.
Don aimed to transition the traditionally classed Merino flock to SRS® principals of a loose, pliable skin with a long, light and soft staple and lustrous deep, bold crimp.
Dr Watts classed the Parkdale flock from 2002 until his passing in 2019. “The easiest way for us to learn about SRS® principals was to class the sheep off the board on their skins. We had to stop looking at the wool,” Don said.
“We had concrete down the chute and letting out pens into the classing race so there was no dust on that freshly shorn skin. That really started to teach us about the sheep.”
At the time, the adult ewes were 21.5 micron and cutting 8kg greasy at a 60 per cent yield, had a comfort factor of 95-97 per cent and a 90 per cent lambing rate.
Within a few years, the flock averaged 20 micron and cut 7kg greasy with a 70 per cent yield and a comfort factor of 99 per cent. This equalled the same amount of wool at just under 5kg of clean wool.
“We had achieved thin and loose skins, and whiter fibre. In the first stage towards SRS® the wool will be longer, faster growing because of the thinner skin – the fibre is wavy and less of a crimp but within the next generation or two, the style comes back in the longer fibre. It is a process people need to get through as 70-80 per cent of people turn back at that point,” Don said.
“We need to understand the bigger picture. We focused on the skin and the micron automatically becoming finer and the coefficient of variation improved, with the wool being whiter and bolder crimping.
“In the late 1980s when we had 4000 sheep, I would buy a pallet of (fly treatment) of 32 drums at $1100/drum or $35,000 per pallet. It was the only way I could handle the sheep on my own with minimal help was to (chemically treat) them in August/September from their ears to tail before they started getting flies.
“Dr Watts told me the SRS® sheep would be blowfly resistant. I really didn’t quite think how good it was really going to be as I was used to a lot of flies. Within another two years we were only buying a drum at a time for lamb marking.
“Today we have 25,000 sheep and treatment for flies would equate to six pallets of chemical worth $200,000 so just that fact alone makes it worthwhile. That is only buying the chemical and you have to factor in the labour as well.
“We started selling the wool as non-mulesed over a decade ago – the prices have slowly crept up to a 10 per cent premium until three years ago and since then it has been a 20 per cent premium compared to what the clip was valued at.”
As sheep classers, Robert and Scott Mudford are helping other growers transition to mules-free Merino flocks.
The Parkdale sheep are shorn every eight months for a 90mm staple, and the adult flock average is 19.6 micron. The benefits of an eight-month shearing includes cashflow and more marketing options. Parkdale wool is certified RWS (Responsible Wool Standard) under the SRS® Genetics banner.
Don said there was increasing animal welfare pressure on growers from the end users for ethically produced wool.
He said animal welfare groups had put the industry spotlight on national lamb mortality rates of 42 per cent in Merino flocks from conception to weaning.
“We focus on fertility and lamb survival, positive fat and eye muscle. The further west our clients are, we like to have that fat content as high as possible. It helps all parts of animal health, the ewes recover faster post weaning, are ready to rejoin, have multiples and the lambs survive better in the western country where conditions can get tough and vary from year to year.”
Weaning percentages in the family’s western flocks north of Bourke average 125 per cent.
For optimum conception rates for a spring lambing, Parkdale ewes are maintained in condition score 3.0.
Wether lambs are grazed on early cereal crops and sold four to 10 weeks off shears to Thomas Foods International, Tamworth, at 22-26kg carcase weight and average yields of 47 per cent.
“Our gross income from wool sits at around 30-40 per cent and our surplus sheep sales of wether lambs and ewes are 60-70 per cent. So, our focus is a bit more on the carcase with good fat and eye muscle combined with growth rates. Parkdale has been measuring intramuscular fat (IMF) for eating quality to improve the value of the carcase. Wool is an important income source and we have focus on wool quality and quantity while introducing better carcase traits,” Don said.
Parkdale holds one of the biggest single bloodline commercial ewe on-property sales in NSW and coming out of the last drought, it was the only surplus sheep sale in the five eastern states, grossing $1 million with active buyers from South Australia, Victoria, NSW and Queensland.
Don likes the benefits of belonging to SRS® Genetics including the peer-reviewed controlled breeding system. There is also research and development, field days, workshops, classing days, online webinars and young sire programs. Branded ear tags enable certification of lambs and surplus sheep for buyer assurance of quality.
When it comes to future sheep and wool production, he regards sheep need to be ethically bred and managed, are environmentally sustainable and with a low carbon footprint.
“Sheep are suitable for carbon sequestration programs with a higher fat content carcase – a lower fat content means the animal is using more feed to produce the same weight or is less feed efficient. The less feed a sheep has to maintain its body weight is better for the environment.”