LOYAL clients, curious locals and sheep producers looking to take their current flocks in a different breeding direction got a firsthand look at a crop of Multimeat and Multimeatmaster (MMM) ewes and lambs on Monday.
Despite bitterly cold temperatures, the Riverside stud's Kaula Dale on-property field day at Kojonup provided an opportunity to view the high-fertility White Suffolk and White Dorper maternal breeds which are promising to be a game changer for the WA prime lamb industry.
Stud principal Tim Stevenson's 'Meat Makes Money' mantra is based on the operation of the Booroola gene - a gene found in both the Multimeat and MMM breeds which has the ability to lift ewe scanning rates by 60 per cent in one cross.
The Multimeat breed (based on the White Suffolk) contains two copies of the gene.
Mr Stevenson said the introduction of such technology into the commercial world of WA prime lamb production is very exciting stuff and independent research proves the potential economic gains to be made by those looking to buy into Multimeat and MMM genetics.
"When we started out with the Multimeats we had 18 ewes which averaged about 80 kilograms in weight - which is probably a bit too heavy in my opinion," he said.
"They produced 31 lambs which now average 35kg at 90 days old.
"They'll be weaned tomorrow at 150pc and dress out at about 17kg."
Mr Stevenson said with the air freight market paying close to $5/kg the lambs will be worth about $85 a head ($128 per ewe).
He said with the yearly aim to stock Kaula Dale at 12 DSE (dry sheep equivalent), the farm supports 4.8 Multimeat ewes to the hectare (or 2.5 DSE per ewe).
"That means we'd make a gross total of $613 a hectare if we sold them tomorrow," Mr Stevenson said.
"The emphasis is on getting lamb numbers on the ground and getting them to grow.
"Those figures even stack up with some of the cropping figures around but of course they don't yet take into account upkeep costs, the cost of genetics or the fact we've had an awesome season in terms of available feed."
Mr Stevenson's current crop of MMM lambs average 23kg at six weeks of age and are stacking on 550g of weight a day.
The field day also promoted the importance of independent trial work when determining whether to invest in a new breed.
"You don't buy seed from a plant breeding company because of the sales pitch - you look at the trial data," Mr Stevenson said.
"Do the same when selecting your sheep breeds and base your decision on proven performance."
Mr Stevenson and his Kaula Dale farm manager Bayden Reid are also pushing the use of ram lambs in all the farm's production systems.
They believe it to be a step in the right direction and think there should be more of it taking place in the country's prime lamb industry.
"If you're going to buy a ram, you should see it and use it when it's at the same growth stage as when its progeny will be sold," Mr Stevenson said.
