NUTRITION and tightly-scheduled management tasks are key elements to consistently producing quality Merino lambs and wool according to Justin Matthews, Brookton.
Mr Matthews and wife Rebecca, along with children Ella, 22, Noah 19 and Joe 17, carry on the family farming tradition that started on their Coondee property in 1903.
Mr Matthews is the fourth-generation to farm the original part of the property and hopes their children continue taking a keen interest and carrying on the passion for the fifth generation.
He and Rebecca purchased the original 900 hectare farm from his father in 2000, adding to it over time to equate to the 3000ha farm they now have that straddles the three shires of Brookton, Wandering and Pingelly.
"We purchased the farm from my mum and dad 22 years ago when they wanted to retire," Mr Matthews said.
"Mum and dad still spend quite a bit of time here but also get up to Guilderton/Moore River, when the weather is favourable.
"The original Coondee farm was about 900ha (2250 acres), and since 2000 we have expanded to about 3000ha."
With this increase in size so too has the overall structure expanded, with separate cropping and livestock managers on board to assist in the day to day running of the farm.
Their enterprise consists of 65:35 cropping to sheep with 4100 Merino breeding ewes, of which 3000 are mated to Merino rams and the remaining 1100 being put into their crossbred operation.
With a strong cropping background, having previously been involved with SACOA, it is no wonder that the focus on improving pastures and crops has such a positive impact on their commercial Merino breeding program.
"My main business focus has been SACOA, which I established in 1994," Mr Matthews said.
"Over the years we developed unique products like SE14 and Lure H2O which help to reduce the negative effects of non-wetting soils.
"Our own non-wetting forest gravels were always slow to germinate at the break of the season, which resulted in poor pasture and crop growth which reduced our overall carrying capacity.
"Having first-hand experience really benefited the development of these products.
"The last few years have been very exciting and rewarding to see the huge growth in the use of SE14 but my real passion has always been farming.
"When we were approached by DKSH, a Zurich based company, which was looking for an opportunity to expand their footprint into Australia, Bec and I thought it was time to hand over the reins.
"The SACOA business has allowed us to invest money into the farm and take it from what was a hobby to what it is now a reasonable-sized operation."
The innate understanding of how everything in their mixed enterprise is able to work in perfect sync is what makes it so successful.
Key to the whole dynamic is the focus on improvement of the soil health which results in better pastures and crops as well as healthier and more resilient livestock.
This approach gives sheep a more level plane of nutrition which really benefits both carcase and wool quality in the Matthews' operation.
A very distinctive part of their soil and pasture management is their use of liquid digestate.
Digestate is an organic liquid waste product which has been utilised as a fertiliser for the past three years at Coondee.
"We spray digestate on the paddocks after heavy grazing," Mr Matthews said.
"We have found this way the pastures and crops bounce back really quickly.
"We have two trucks a day delivering around 90,000 litres, which is spread at about 10,000L a hectare.
"This is equivalent to around 35 units of N and also includes a little bit of potash and phosphorous, as well as other trace elements.
"In winter and spring this is spread via spray which encourages strong vegetative growth of the crops and the ryegrass / clover pastures."
This is done as they rotate the sheep through the paddocks and graze hard.
Running 15+ DSE on the winter grazed hectares they make use of their pastures and also strip graze their crops, both benefiting from the digestate fertilisers effects.
"I have always liked sheep, they are definitely rewarding even though they may be more work," Mr Matthews said.
"They are very complementary to our cropping program.
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"We graze our oat and barley crops, especially if we get them in early so we can slow them down a bit."
In summer and autumn they incorporate the digestate using a speed tiller to reduce volatility and help the natural breakdown of the stubbles.
Their pastures consist of sub clovers, ryegrass as well as bladder and balansa clover and have great success with Margurita when they receive early autumn rains.
The ethical treatment of both the animals and the landscape is at the forefront of what the family does on the farm every day and also working towards their Responsible Wool Standards (RWS) certification through Nutrien Ag Solutions.
RWS is an independent, voluntary standard for the ethical treatment of animals and the land/environment.
Created by a group of major retail brands and managed by Textile Exchange (Canada), RWS conducts a yearly audit of farm/land and chemical management records and requires non-mulesed sheep.
"The RWS is something I believe in time will be expected of all farmers and should only take a few tweaks to 'normal farm practices' to gain accreditation," Mr Matthews said.
"This is something we feel really strongly about and is a great opportunity to show and prove how we are able to do this on all levels from ethical treatment of animals to the responsible management of the land."
This philosophy has served them well with their observation on what works for their specific environment.
Joining begins on January 1, and goes for 35 days at a ratio of two per cent.
Wether teasers are introduced to the ewes 14 days prior to the rams.
Lambing at Coondee begins on the first of June and averages between 110-120pc.
"We have dedicated lambing paddocks that have definitely improved the lambing percentages," Mr Matthews said.
"Coondee is quite open, with a lot of valley floor country, which is cold and windswept.
"To help alleviate this we planted a lot of trees and then worked out which paddocks gave us the best lambing percentages."
Apart from the abundant pastures and use of crops for feed, they also use lick feeders with a lupin/barley mix and leave them in paddocks.
He said this was a way to disturb the ewes less during lambing and also a way that each generation taught the next on where feed was available.
"We did used to trail feed, but we prefer not to disturb the ewes during lambing," Mr Matthews said.
"With the lick feeders the mothers train the lambs which really helps at weaning time when we put the lambs on stubbles with the feeders.
"The ewes also get fed hay through autumn and winter which helps to maintain that level nutritional plane which shows in the wool quality.
"We find having the fibre readily available when putting sheep on bulky green pastures helps to minimise the shock to their diet which can lead to scouring."
At Coondee the sheep are shorn three times in two years.
The wool length is typically about 65-75mm in length, with the older sheep growing more on average than the younger ones.
Mr Matthews said the December shearing worked well, as did April, but the August shearing was trickier as the ewes have lambs at foot and that does create another level of complexity.
The Coondee Merino flock average is 18 micron for the mature ewes and their average cut over the three times in two years is four kilograms, or alternatively the average over a 12 month period equates to six kilograms per head.
Mr Matthews is passionate about Merinos and the obvious benefits they have to the overall enterprise, but he also has a very keen focus on the wool quality.
They have been on the same bloodlines for 14 years, having originally purchased Quailerup West genetics from James Scanlon and now from current owners the Mullan family.
"We like the Quailerup West sheep's staple length and micron," Mr Matthews said.
"They have nice bright, white, open growing wool with a mature physical frame.
"The Mullans have definitely increased the size of the sheep while maintaining the wool quality."
"Their breeding objectives really do revolve around the wool quality while balancing micron and speed of maturity to take advantage of the Merino's dual-purpose nature."
When selecting rams, Mr Matthews said they were very visual in their appraisal, wanting fine micron sheep that have good length that are masculine looking.
"Our ewes now regularly weigh 75-85kg," he said.
"We focus on their feed regime to ensure the ewes are able to get what they need.
"It is easier to put weight on ewes in earlier stages of pregnancy.
"They start at around score 3.5 and we expect them to drop to score three by the time they lamb."
Running a self replacing program, wool length is very important with shearing every eight months.
They draft out any ewes that don't have the top quality wool, but still reasonable quality, and these go into the crossbred program.
"We cull based on wool quality, body size and look for ewes with soft bright white open growing wool" Mr Matthews said.
They sell their crossbred lambs to Hillside Meat Processors in Narrogin and any wether lambs that don't make weight are sold in September as hoggets into the live export market.
"Weaning starts the first of November however, we start selling lambs directly off their mothers on a weekly basis commencing first of October averaging around 46-47kg," Mr Matthews said.
"Prices have been excellent this season, averaging around $170 per head for lambs, $185 for wethers and around $150 a head for cast-for-age ewes."
With so many sheep and the large cropping operation, management tasks are run to a tight schedule and the Matthews have invested in infrastructure to assist in the process.
"Ease of handling is important and the creation of laneways makes a huge difference to time," Mr Matthews said.
"We also have a ProWay Sheep Handler and a Clipex which has taken a lot of stress out of these tasks.
"We also look to break lambing ewes into mobs of 200-250 where possible depending on the paddock, which makes the work more intensive, but the lambing percentage makes it worthwhile."
The future of Merinos at Coondee is not in question and with their focus on nutrition and wool, it is plain to see why they have been so successful in consistently growing their operation.
"We are working towards 5000 ewes in two years," Mr Matthews said.
"This may mean we have to hold on to older ewes for a bit."
It is clear the Matthews commitment to their sheep is unwavering and they are consistently finding ways to improve and streamline their overall business.
