The Central Western NSW region of the Australian Poll Dorset Association will host the breed’s biannual national conference for the first time from March 17 to 19 at the Highland Heritage Estate, Orange.
Central West region secretary, Ruth Klingner, said it is a great opportunity for breeders to learn from the speakers and each other.
“All breeders should be looking towards the future, see what is coming, and utilising it,” Ms Klingner said.
“While we shouldn’t forget about the things we know now and the traditional things we have done right, we need to be using future technologies and looking at impending markets to keep progressing the breed.”
The focal point of the 2019 conference will be on how to develop and implement breeding programs, the importance of setting key breeding objectives, and how this drives you to achieve your goals.
Topics will include marketing your stud stock, latest research on mastitis, campylobacter, brucellosis, arthritis and summer pneumonia, DNA testing, Dexa, MSA and its future, eating quality, lamb survival, heat stress in sheep, terminal sire 2039–what does it look like, and technology now and into the future.
To present on these topics and more, there is an impressive line up of speakers from around Australia and overseas.
“The committee has aimed to provide a program that informs and educates attendees on things that they can apply to their business on-farm right, as well as in to the future,” Ms Klingner said.
On the third day of the conference there will be first-hand demonstrations on electronic tags, Gudair vaccinating without getting lumps and drones and robotics in sheep farming – now and the future.
There will also be a tour to McSmith’s MASTERyard feed lot looking at the technologies they are using to improve their output from the feedlot.
This year the committee has secured Rabobank and StepUp Financial Group, Orange to each sponsor one Young Breeder Scholarship.
The Rabobank scholarship was won by Ben Atkinson of Treanky Poll Dorset stud, Narrabri and the StepUp Financial Group scholarship was won by Laura Banning of Yeramba Poll Dorset stud, O'Connell.
“We wanted to try and encourage some of the younger breeders to come along and be involved,” Ms Klingner said.
Despite the drought, Ms Klingner said that there have been a good number of registrations to date from nearly all states of Australia.
“We look forward to more coming in in the next month, however, we recognise that with the impact of the drought, some people just won’t be able to get away,” she said.
Ms Klingner said the biggest challenge for the Poll Dorset industry at the moment is the short supply of crossbred breeding ewes.
“Producers have sold a lot of ewes off, so people don’t need rams or as many rams as they usually would,” she said.
“My position, in a commercial aspect is a perfect example. I normally run over 1000 crossbred ewes for prime lamb production, this year I was going to need a good number of young rams, but due to the drought, sold off 400 of these ewes.
“I haven’t replaced them so I didn’t need any new rams.”
She said in the Forbes area, the vast majority of lamb producers either sold some or all of their ewes in the last 12 months.
“But this is only a short-term problem, in time the ewe numbers will build up again,” Ms Klingner said.
“The Poll Dorset breed has flexibility, quality and consistency in the market.
“They allow you to turn off early suckers fast or you can grow them out to heavy weight export lambs, have great meat yield, and the lamb buyers prefer.
“The fact that they have got all those things means there is always going to be a demand for the Poll Dorset.
“As stud breeders it’s important that we build on what we have got with the tools available to us, and the biannual conference is a perfect place to start.”
For more details on the conference, contact Central West region secretary, Ruth Klingner: 0438 642 113 or rellegge@hotmail.com
- Fairfax Agricultural Media are an official sponsor of the 2019 National Poll Dorset Conference