The Elders Victorian Merino Sire Evaluation Trials

Progeny Location:

The Gringegalgona property, run by Stephen and Judith Silcock is located in the Dundas Highlands. It lies on shallow clay and sandy loams in undulating tableland red gum country on the midway between Cavendish and Balmoral, 48kms north west of Hamilton. The average annual rainfall at Gringegalgona is 675mm (27”). Progeny are managed under strict commercial conditions.

Ewe Base:

Ewes for the 2002 trial were selected from “Gringegalgona” mixed aged commercial, fine wool Merino breeding ewes. The average adult flock micron at “Gringegalgona” over the last 10 years is 19.2.

2002 Seasonal Conditions:

The Spring of 2003 saw a return to a normal season with above average rainfall of 690 mm recorded for the year, the average rainfall is 650 mm at ‘Whiteoaks’. The 2002 drop have benefited from a good season, and are currently being supplemented with half a kg of beans per head per week and are stocked at 14 D.S.E.

These sheep were Clicked and drenched at the end of October and were crutched and drenched mid February.

The 2003 Drop lambs were mulesed, marked and vaccinated early October and were weaned late November and received their second vaccination and first Summer Drench and Clicked. They are away to a good start after being imprint fed while on the ewes and continued with a small ration of grain being progressively increased to match their needs. Currently these lambs are being stocked at 18 lambs per hectare and are being fed 2kg of oats and approx. 3kg of silage per head per week. These lambs were crutched mid February and received their second summer drench at this time.

The Evaluation & Management Program 2002 drop progeny:

Date
Activity

13/14 March 2002
Commence A.I. Program – Ewes sponged and Teasers injected

27/28 March 2002
Laparoscopic insemination of 860 ewes, conducted by Genstock

20 May 2002
Ultrasound/scan ewes by Mark Jenkinson

June 2002
Ewes drafted into groups of singles and twins

20/22 July 2002
Ewes drafted into 28 groups for lambing

21 August 2002
Ewes commence lambing

4 September 2002
Lambing complete

12 September 2002
Lamb tagging, scoring and vaccinated
Lambs and ewes returned to full mob

19 October 2002
Mark and mules lambs, vaccinated

29 November 2002
Weaned lambs, drenched and Clicked

3 December 2002
Lambs body weighed (weaning weight)

28 January 2003
Lambs drenched, bulleted with Cobalt Selenium

20 March 2003
Lambs Crutched

1 April 2001
Progeny on display at Open Day

30 June 2003
1st Visual classing of progeny and midside samples taken

14 July 2003
1st Shearing 10.5 months wool

15 August 2003
Body weighing (yearling weight)

26 March 2004
Progeny on display at Open Day, group classsing done

21 May 2004
2nd Visual classing of progeny and midside samples taken

26 May 2004
2nd Shearing 10.5 months wool

Stock Management/Seasonal Conditions
The spring of 2003 saw a return to a normal season with above average rainfall of 690 mm recorded for the year.

The 2003 drop lambs were born commencing 2nd September and were mulesed, marked and vaccinated early October. In late November they were weaned and received their second vaccination, first summer drench and were ‘Clicked’. They were away to a good start after being imprint fed while on the ewes and continued with a small ration of grain being progressively increased to match their needs. The lambs were stocked at 18 lambs per hectare and fed 2kg of oats and approx. 3kg of silage per head per week. These lambs were crutched mid February and received their second summer drench at this time. Lambs were then supplementary fed through until the middle of May. Rainfall for April was 9mm, May 63mm and June 155mm. This was the wettest June on record for us for more than 50 years. Shearing of the 2003 drop progeny took place on 20th July after inclement weather caused delays. Due to several attempts to shear these sheep, body weights were down when taken on 11th August. Sheep were drenched on 3rd September and then performed through spring. The season was very wet through winter with very little pasture growth – a total of 494mm rain to 28th September, 2004.

The Sire Evaluation Open Day was well attended on March 22nd 2005 with the 2003 drop presented for their final public display. 2005 will be a year etched well into the memory of many people. The longest, driest autumn for many years; we finally received a break to the dry on the 9th of June and since then have received 119mm, year to date have received 223mm. We are only able to ease up on feeding towards the end of July 2005.

Stephen Silcock

The Evaluation & Management Program 2003 drop progeny:

14th March 2003 Commenced AI program – Ewes sponged & teasers injected.

28th March 2003 Laparoscopic insemination of 860 ewes, conducted by Genstock

Mid May 2003 Ultrasound/scan ewes by Mark Jenkinson

Early July 2003 Ewes drafted into groups of singles & twins

Mid July 2003 Ewes drafted into 28 groups for lambing

24th August 2003 Ewes commenced lambing

15th September 2003 Lambs tagged & scored

Early October 2003 Marked & mulesed lambs, vaccinated

Late November 2003 Weaned lambs, 2nd vaccination, 1st summer drench and ‘Clicked’

17th December 2003 Lambs body weighed (weaning weight)

December 2003 Supplementary feeding (imprint feeding while on ewes)

Mid February 2004 Lambs crutched, received 2nd summer drench

26th March 2004 Progeny on display at Open Day

23rd June 2004 Drench

25th June 2004 1st visual classing of progeny

20th July 2004 1st shearing (11months wool)

28th July 2004 Body weighing (yearling weight)

3rd September 2004 Drenched

Mid December 2004 Dip jetted for fly protection

Mid February 2005 Crutched

22nd March 2005 Progeny on display at Open Day

16th May 2005 2nd visual classing

23rd May 2005 2nd shearing (10 months wool, 21 months of age)

3rd June 2005 Body weighing

Classer for 2003 Drop Progeny: Mr Malcolm Nicholls, Elders Ltd