| 21 Sending lambs away early is key Stud breeder Chris Medlicott. Russell Fredric MEAT & WOOL » Chris Medlicott Among the numerous sheep breed options available to farmers, Southdowns offer the ability to produce good numbers of lambs that can be sent away for early processing, stud breeder Chris Medlicott says. This trait is especially important in South Canterbury, a province that can turn dry in a short time, Chris says. “They hold their form and they muscle-down quickly. I had one client, he lambed in the last week in July/first week in August [2023], he killed 90% of his lambs mid-November over 20 kilograms in South Canterbury.” Chris’ son is a lamb drafter and initially booked 60% of the lamb flock for processing. “They were 22k’s [carcass weight] then he went back five days later and he killed another 30% of them which got his 90% out and they were still 18k’s.” Being able to send lambs away early also has huge benefits over the balance of the season, Chris says. “That’s where the efficiency comes in.” “The biggest majority of your pasture is grown in the spring so the more you can utilise that, the better off you are if you can drop your numbers in most operations in a breeding operation, then you can feed everything else better, that helps next year’s income.” Chris says during the past three or four decades there has been an emphasis on breeding sheep with less fat and more muscle, but he believes some fat is important to carry sheep through weather challenges and that the fat provides a base for them to subsequently put on weight quickly. “Also, there’s also a bit of science around at the moment saying animals that have a reasonable fat content stand up to worm challenges better than super-lean animals.” Some fat also improves the eating quality, he says. “We are very wary of keeping an eye on animals [in the sire analysis] that are too lean, we are just trying to keep a balance so that it’s actually easier for our clients to get their lambs out the gate.” Chris is involved in the Southdown breeder reference group comprising about 10 breeders that submit a ram to the Central Progeny Test which allows breeders to benchmark the genetics against other New Zealand and Australian studs using estimated breeding values. Run by Beef and Lamb New Zealand genetics, the CPT currently involves 180 rams, across nine sites including six commercial properties and three cadet-training bases. Through the CPT there is linkage among breeders to New Zealand terminal sires of all breeds within a central hub. “We can actually use our intelligence as ram breeders and make sure that our sheep are of an industry standard, but still producing animals that we want our clients to have to help them make progress.” The Medlicott farm covers 187 hectares and is primarily a lamb fattening operation with 8000 lambs historically passing through each season, however last season’s drought resulted in a reduction of 2,500 lambs. Chris contracts all lambs on a quarterly basis to Anzco Foods. “This is a supply agreement for space with no fixed price and a very robust system for calculating the price on the day that I believe is always fair and equitable. Most summers we’ll kill at 20 to 21 kg’s and own them for two months on average, but this year being so dry we only had them for about six weeks but killed at 19.3 kg’s.” CLIFTON DOWNS SOUTHDOWN RAM & EWE SALE 22ND NOVEMBER 2024 VIEWING FROM: 11.00am SNACK: 11.00pm - 1.00pm AUCTION: 1.00PM BBQ & REFRESHMENTS: AT SALE COMPLETION Agents: Kelvin Sadler 0274 302 029 Simon Eddington 0275 908 612 or call Chris Medlicott 027 621 6696 PROUD SUPPORTERS OF CHRIS MEDLICOTT nexia.co.nz We’re here to take your business further. NexiaChristchurch are proud to support ChrisMedlicott with their accounting and business advisory needs.
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