MERINOS have always been a part of the Simpson family's farming operation at Orchid Valley and they have cemented their future within the business.
Daniel and Narelle Simpson, along their three children Josie, 13, Henry, 11 and Kirsten, 7, make up the second and third generation on their farm, Koja, situated between Kojonup and Boyup Brook, which has been in the family for 52 years.
Owning 1200 hectares and leasing a further 400ha, their mixed farming enterprise consists of sheep, cropping and a blue gum plantation.
"We are currently in the process of reverting some of the blue gums back to pasture," Daniel said.
At present their business works on a ratio of 70:30, sheep heavy, and within their sheep totals there is a small crossbred flock.
Their main shearing is in January and includes an overall number of 7000 sheep, incorporating lambs.
Annual joining at Koja is in March for a four-week period to ensure an efficient and precise as possible lambing.
"We crutched 4500 grown sheep recently," Daniel said.
"This is our annual pre-lambing crutching, combined with drenching.
"Lambing commences August 1 and goes for four weeks."
The remaining management tasks include, wether hoggets being shorn at the end of August.
"The wethers are then sold onto the first boat (live export) available.
"We carry over the wether lambs that didn't get drafted in March.
"With wool prices being as good as they were for the past five years, we have been happy to carry these over because it has been very profitable."
Having an average lambing percentage of around 95 per cent in their Merino flock, Daniel said last year they achieved 100pc.
"One of the main issues that impacts numbers is the weather," he said.
"In previous years there has been some quite bad weather in early August, which has affected their survival.
"We do pregnancy scan and also scan for twins, so we have a good idea of conception rates, being around 95pc also.
"Our cull Merinos are mated to Suffolks."
They sell all their Merino wethers to live export and the crossbred lambs they breed are sold over the hooks to V&V Walsh.
A total of 2500 ewes are mated to Merinos and 500 are mated to Suffolks for the crossbred operation.
It is obvious the Simpsons have an affinity for Merino sheep and have been selective in their breeding to achieve the style and type to best suit their operation.
Daniel said the dual income stream afforded by Merinos was definitely a factor in their loyalty to the breed, but it was also their history on-farm and their proven performance.
"I have grown up with Merinos, I like that we are producing a quality natural fibre," he said.
"I also enjoy the fundamentals of sheep and pasture production, and, a fair portion of this country is best suited to grazing."
"They are a guaranteed income and prices for wool and meat have been very good in recent years."
Daniel said they had utilised the Georling family's Lukin Springs Poll Merino stud, Boyup Brook, genetics for at least 15 years and liked the type and style of Merino they produce.
"The Lukin Springs sheep are bred in a higher rainfall area and suit our environment," he said.
"We have an average of about 600 millimetres a year."
Daniel said the sheep they bred from the Lukin Springs genetics don't have shoulder faults and don't have any issues handling water.
"We have large framed, plain bodied sheep, with soft skins, growing well aligned, stylish, fine wool," he said.
"This is what Lukin Springs breed and why we choose their sheep for our program."
The Simpsons have an under 19 micron average across the flock and their average wool cut is worked out as a figure based on kilograms per hectare, rather than on a per head basis.
"We run the Merinos at 12 to 13 DSE (per hectare)," he said.
"Even with a late time of lambing, a ewe and lamb will cut at least 60kg to the hectare".
As part of their overall program the Simpsons grow canola and barley as a cash crop, while also keeping enough barley to supplementary feed their stock as required.
"We also buy in lupins to feed to the lambs," Daniel said.
"We work out the feed for the ewes, based on available paddock feed and their energy requirements at each stage of pregnancy.
"On average we start feeding in February/March, but it does depend on the season."
Daniel said they aimed for the ewes to be in a condition score 3 in preparation for lambing at the beginning of August.
"The August lambing for us is the right timing," he said.
"The sheep energy requirements match the pasture on offer."
A sum of 300ha are given over to the Simpsons cropping rotation and this is one of the areas that is set to increase in their planning for next season.
They have already had some of the blue gum plantations on the property cleared to make way for more pasture and plan to increase their cropping.
This increase would see their sheep to crop ratio still remain in favour of sheep at 60:40 over crop.
"I prefer this ratio running sheep, taking grazing pressure off pasture paddocks during the summer," Daniel said.
While this might be a slight shift away from sheep, their Merino program is still the majority of their farm enterprise.
With the passion they have for Merinos it is fair to say that the breed will have a solid place within the Simpsons enterprise for many years to come.
