ANPR350.docx

**SHEEP MANAGEMENT -- ANPR350** **ANPR350 Learning Objectives** 1. Demonstrate a broad and coherent knowledge in the management of a sheep enterprise in Australia aiming for profit 2. Analyse, evaluate and generate a solution to optimise the timing of various husbandry operations 3. A...

**SHEEP MANAGEMENT -- ANPR350** **ANPR350 Learning Objectives** 1. Demonstrate a broad and coherent knowledge in the management of a sheep enterprise in Australia aiming for profit 2. Analyse, evaluate and generate a solution to optimise the timing of various husbandry operations 3. Analyse and evaluate information in order to make resources allocation decision in the sheep enterprise 4. Analyse, evaluate and transmit knowledge to others about the impact of risks on decisions by sheep producers and demonstrate a braid and coherent knowledge in managing these risks 5. Demonstrate a broad and coherent knowledge of the legal and regulatory environment in which sheep producers operate **Assessment** Assessment Weighting Open Date Close Date -------------- ----------- ----------- ------------ Assignment 1 30% Mon 19-08 Assignment 2 30% Sun 15-09 Exam 40% Mon 23-09 Fri 04-10 **Study Schedule** WEEK COMMENCING TOPIC ASSESSMENT ------ ------------ ----------------------------------------------------- ------------ 1 24-07 1.Overview of sheep management 2 01-07 2.Pasture and grazing management 3 08-07 3.Reproduction management 4 15-07 4.Joining, lambing and lamb management 5 22-07 5.Managing for economic and resource sustainability 6 29-07 6.Farm management methods 7 05-08 Mid-tri intensive period 8 12-08 Mid-tri intensive period 9 19-08 7.Precision management and benchmarking 10 26-08 8.Discounted cash flow analysis 11 02-09 9.Managing risk in sheep production 12 09-09 10.Legal issues in sheep regulation 13 16-09 14 23-09 **WEEK 1** **LECTURE 1:** OVERVIEW OF SHEEP MANAGEMENT HOW DO SHEEP PRODUCERS MAKE MONEY? - Wool producers - Profit driven by price and cost of production -- not productivity - In other words there is greater variation in - Price - Cost of production - Less variation in productivity - Prime lamb producers - Profit driven by price and cost of production -- not productivity - There is greater variation in - Productivity - Cost of production - Less variation in price HOW DO YOU INFLUENCE COST OF PRODUCTION - Use available infrastructure and labour - Make sound investment in equipment/infrastructure (80% of assets) - Achieve labour efficiencies - Labour accounts for 30% of costs - Labour efficiency is a large driver if profitability in sheep enterprises RELATING COMPARATIVE PERFORMANCE - Conflicting goals in setting up husbandry calendar - Pasture vs sheep - \$/head vs \$/ha - Decrease in cost of production vs selling into market seasonal highs - Conflicting needs of multiple enterprises - Labour demands for cropping vs wool DESIGNING YOUR HUSBANDRY CALENDER - How do you get a perfect husbandry calendar? - Is it possible? - Consider that many factors are out of the control of the producer (i.e. environment, labour availability) - Do you need to compromise? - Reducing productivity to provide a product when supply is low/higher price (i.e. joining) - Compete task from multiple enterprises - Why is there so much variation in husbandry calendars? - Need to move away from history - Generations - Neighbours - Evaluate your husbandry calendar QUESTION 1 DESIGNING A HUSBANDRY CALENDAR - Where to start: - What is the most important aspect of sheep farming? LAMBING - Requirements for lambing - Reasonable weather - Increase feed requirement PASTURE GROWTH CURVE PEAK ENERGY/PROTIEN SUPPLY - Where does that put joining? Does this work? - Seasonal oestrus - Recommend 5-6 week joining, why? - Tight lambing - Provide consistency in line of lambs - Ewes are at similar nutritional phase (i.e. single and twin) - Remove disadvantage of late lambs FEED REQUIREMENTS MJ ME/KG DM SHEEP MANAGEMENT CALENDAR -- MEDITERRANEAN ENVIRONMENT - Winter lambing to synchronise ewe requirements with pasture growth - Lambs sufficiently grown before pasture senescence (Oct-Nov) - Shear lambs and adult sheep before grass seed problems - Facilitate sale of surplus sheep before summer HUSBANDRY CALENDAR EXAMPLES - Winter rainfall - Summer rainfall STEP 2: ESTIMATED DSE - Calculate your carrying capacity REPRODUCTION PREGNANCY SCANNING **WEEK 2** **LECTURE 2:** PASTURE AND GRAZING MANAGEMENT PRODUCTION ZONES - High rainfall zone \>550mm annually - Phalaris - Tall fescue - Cocksfoot - Perennial ryegrass - Legumes (sub, white, strawberry clover, lucerne, chicory, brassica) - Sheep wheat zone or Ley farming 400-700mm - Pasture phase of 1 to 5 yrs - Annual legumes - Lucerne - Crop stubble - Pastoral zone 150-400mm - Saltbush, blue bush - Mitchell grasses - Mallee PASTURE MANAGEMENT - It relies on ensuring a good establishment of desired high quality pasture - Establishment is expensive and is sound to keep a productive pasture as long as possible to spread out costs over many years - Pastures are b far the cheapest nutrition for grazing ruminants - Estimated at \$10-\$30 per tonne (DM) per yr ESTABLISHING IMPROVED PASTURES - Relies on: - Moisture availability (prevent seed desiccation) - Removing competition (weed control) - Leaving standing litter (humid environment) - Administration seed treatment where required (Rhizobium, lime coating (moisture conditions)) - Choice of species - Establishment of plants before grazing (10cm sward height) - First year pasture should not be harvested DIFFICULTIES OF ESTABLISHMENT IN PASTROL AREAS - Lack of rainfall -- primary factor - Aid in water pooling (i.e. contour ploughing, chequerboard ploughing) - Lack of fencing to control grazing - Often require existing pasture to provide protection of new seedling - Size or general area GRAZING MANAGEMENT -- WHAT ARE THE RULES? - Difficult to comprehend; why? - Aus's variability - Variability between years - Variability within the year (rainfall dominance) - Matching pasture growth with grazing animal requirements - Matching pasture utilisation with encouraging feed intake of livestock - Maintain soil cover and botanical stability STOCKING RATES - A dominant factor of pasture productivity/ ha - Consider the polar extremes WEED MANAGEMENT IN PASTURE - \$400 million/yr - Reduces productivity/carrying capacity - Decrease nutrition - Toxin levels (heliotrope, Paterson curse) - Grass seeds -- behavioural - Compete with introduced pasture - Selective grazing - Must think of the economic return of weed elimination PASTURE GROWTH PHASES WHAT DOES IT ALL MEAN? - There is a very strong interaction between the light interception by a grass sward and therefore its capacity to carry out photosynthesis - There is a compromise between having sufficient herbage available and its greenness and digestibility and hance the rate of intake with which an animal can eat that pasture - Its important to manage pasture phase to get most out of a pasture - That is the benefit of rotational grazing is due to remove selective grazing - The more digestible the pasture plant, the more important that it is that the plant is rested in between grazing - The amount of herbage intake that an animal can eat is closely related to its capacity to grow wool and gain weight - Intake is affected by - Digestion rate (quality/maturity of pasture) - Physical structure of the canopy - Nutrient demand - Digestive capability - Amount of fouling HOW TO MAXIMISE HERBAGE INTAKE - Graze effectively - Achieve ideal sward conditions to maximise pasture growth - Understand the relationship between feed intake and utilisation - However one needs to reduce the herbage allowance to increase utilisation; therefore there is a compromise between intake and utilisation GRAZIERS ARE 'GRASS GROWERS' - Grazing management = manipulating the availability of herbage mass due to stocking rate GRAZING METHODS ROTATIONAL VS CONTINUOUS GRAZING - Rotational grazing - Reduce animal camps in pasture - Less waster - Higher quality pasture - Animals are less selective in their grazing; force to eat it due to competition - Requires extra expenditure (Fencing, water and stock movement) - Continuous grazing - Very commonly used throughout Australia - Less reliant on management - Herbage intake selective - Most producers use a combo of both; why? - Sheltered paddocks for lambing - The use of stubbles - Grazing paddocks earmarked for cropping spelling regularly grazed pastures NEGATIVE EFFECTS OF GRAZING - Soil compaction - Great under wet weather - Significant decrease in pasture yield - It is possible for vigorous pasture growth to rehab compacted soil but this can take some years depending on growing conditions - Legumes vs grasses PASTURE ASSESSMENT/FEED BUDGETING ESTIMATING PASTURE MASS - Making a pasture estimate - Pasture stick - Observation of pasture mass in quadrant - Feed on offer (FOO) library HOW DOES THIS ALL HELP? - When one knows herbage mass and growth rate, can calculate stocking rate DECISION SUPPORT TOOLS - Used to make sophisticated predictions to aid graziers to manage risk better - 2 programs - GrassGro - GrazFeed - GrazFeed - Tool for assessing the consequence of varying amount of herbage mass and quality on livestock production - Predicts - Animal growth - Repro (based on intake) - Pastures from space - Satellites scan parts of the earth's surface with light reflectance detectors measuring various parts of the spectrum - NIR - It is learning to develop pasture growth rate, which govern stocking density that can be supported at any one time - Helps is estimating herbage mass and quality SUSTAINABILITY OF GRAZED PASTURE - Measuring sustainability; how do you measure it? - Complex system of sustainability indicators - A sustainable enterprise is: - Based on partnership between a nutrient responsive grass and active legume - Is profitable over the long term - Causes no significant effect to plant or soil resources - Survived bad seasons with farms natural capital good condition - Pasture sustainability - Long term vision of pasture management is crucial - Help producer remain viable and minimise weed problems - Crucial to productive animal enterprises - Animal sustainability - Weight loss needs to be avoided - Good pastures are required for other production traits - Reproduction - Growth - Parasite control **WEEK 3** **LECTURE 3:** SHEEP REPRODUCTION REPRO PERFORMANCE - Measured by number of lambs marked/100 ewes joined with rams -- lamb marking % - Nation average = 80-85% - Lamb marking % = ewe fertility x litter size x lamb survival REPRO PHSYIOLOGY -- *LIFETIME MANAGEMENT* - Oocytes (ova, eggs) located within ovarian follicles - Follicles first appear in the fetal ovaries in the last tri of pregnancy - Lambs are born with fill complement of germ cells (100,00) - Follicles continually grow and degenerate (atresia) with only 50-100 eggs ovulated during ewe's lifetime FOLLICLE GROWTH - 100-400 follicles growing at any time, 10-40 are visible on surface of ovary, only 1-2 will ovulate - Hormones driving follicle development and ovulation - Follicle stimulating hormone (FSH) - Luteinizing hormone (LH) OESTRUC CYCLE - Ewes have a 17 day oestrus cycle involving: - Behavioural oestrus (12-30hrs duration) - Ovulation - Luteinisation - Luteal phase (days 3-14) - Follicular phase - Maternal recognition of pregnancy (day 12-13) SPERMATOGENESIS AND FERTILISATION - Males continually produce sperm which is stored in the epididymis - Good quality semen contains 3-5 billion sperm/mL - Spermatogenesis takes approx. 49 days - Disruptions to spermatogenesis can lead to prolonged periods of infertility - High temps (32-35) and poor nutrition are common causes of infertility IMPROVED REPRO THROUGH GENETIC SELECTION - Repro is a complex trait involving many components, heritability is variable - Ovulation rate (low) - Litter size (low) - Lamb survival (poor) - Rearing ability (difficult to measure) - Heterosis -- up to 40% lambs weaned/ewe joined - Culling ewes in fertility (udder development), but this has low repeatability and unlikely to improve fertility in flock HERITABILITY OF REPRO TRAITS IMPROVING REPRO THROUGH MANAGEMENT STRATEGIES - Nutrition (pre and post mating) - Pre-mating: - Ovulation rate is particularly sensitive to changes in nutrition - Increasing LW by 20kg or 1.5-2 condition scores increases ovulation rate from 120 156 per 100 ewes - Increase nutrtion can also have the opposite effect on embryo and egg quality - Management of ewe nutrition requires balance: - Maintain post weaning condition score (3.0) - Ad-lib diet for 3 weeks prior to mating - Gradually reduce diet to maintenance in week before ovulation - Post-mating - Progesterone levels are important for implantation and are inversely correlated with feed intake - Feed ewes at maintenance level for the first tri then increase plain of nutrition in later pregnancy - Ram effect - Pheromones produced by rams can induce ovulation is anoestrus ewes that have been isolated from rams - Can be used to synchronise oestrus in Merinos and Dorsets (less in seasonal breeds) - Ram induced ovulation occur 2-9 days after stimulation -- peak lambing in 3^rd^ week - Oestrus with ovulation usually occurs 17 days later - Incidence of oestrus during first 14 days of mating in SA for teased and non-teased Merion flocks: - Season and length of mating - length of mating period: - 6-week mating period allows 2-3 cycles per ewe - Increasing mating period may result in small numbers of lambs born later-affecting lamb marking management - Temp - Heat stress has serious consequences for ewe and ram fertility - Daily temps above 32 degrees reduce return to service rates and ewe fertility - Semen quality can be reduced leading to poor fertilisation rates and poor embryo survival - Provide adequate shade, extend mating periods or re-mate if highly daily temps persist - Ram percentage - 2-3% ram rate generally - Data shows that 1% may be sufficient  - Lambing interval - Nutritional stress during pregnancy and lactation influences pattern of oestrus and ovulation rate in subsequent year - Weaning as early as possible and reducing length of mating period may allow ewe live weight to recover - Mating young ewes - Most flocks in Aus mated at 18m - Puberty reliant on LW and season of birth - LW at puberty varies between breeds (35-40kg for Merino; 45kg for meat breed) - balance producing extra lamb with value of meat and wool - Retaining aged ewes - Merino ewes are often culled at 5-6yrs of age due to declining wool quality - Repro performance an improve beyond this age = economic benefit - Decreasing mating interval - Ewes often joined only once per year but potential exists to mate more frequently - Twice yearly mating has had limited success - Mating 5 times in 3yrs can be achieved as per STAR accelerated lambing system in USA - Mating every 8 months = 3 lambing in 2 yrs - Fertility in the ram - Quantity of semen produced is directly related to testicular size - Testicular size fluctuates with pasture conditions - High quality feed 8 weeks prior to mating can double semen production - Changes in LW and testicular volume in Merino rams: - Other factors: - Stress from husbandry, mustering and transport - Environmental toxins including residues of pesticides, herbicides, fungicides and insecticides - Phyto-oestrogens found in some clover and Lucerne cultivars - Disease, particularly *Brucella ovis* ARTIFICIAL INSEMINATION - 500,000 ewes go through AI annually in Aus - Synchronisation of cycles - Progesterone administered for 12-14 days via intravaginal pessary (CIDR or sponge) - Pregnant mare serum gonadotrophin (PMSG) administered at time of pessary removal (stimulated follicle growth and development) - Ewes exhibit behavioural oestrus 30-48hrs after pessary removal - Ovulation occurs 45-80hrs after pessary removal - Majority of semen for AI is frozen - 'fixed-time' or 'behavioural' AI EMBRYO COLLECTION AND TRANSFER - ET rapidly multiplies number of lambs per elite ewe - Ewes are super ovulated, the success of which is determined by - Long and short term nutrition - Age - Presence of follicular wave - Stress - Ambient temperature - Ewes are synchronised using pessary and given multiple injections of PMSG (FSH) - Laparoscopic insemination is imperative - Embryos collected 5-7 days after insemination by flushing the uterus with buffered saline solution - Mean umber ovulations = 12 (range 0-50) - Number embryos recovered = 8 (0-40) - Vitrification/freezing of embryos allows national and international transport of embryos REPRO TECH - JIVET (juvenile in vitro embryo transfer) involves aspirating eggs from 4-12 week old lambs - Identification of X and Y bearing sperm using a fluorescence activated cell sorter - Somatic cell cloning -- the ability to genetically copy elite animals is currently limited by cost **LECTURE 4:** PREGNANCY AND LAMBING MANAGEMENT INTRODUCTION - High flocks repro performance essential for max profit - Pregnancy and lambing management important to achieve this - Nutrition during pregnancy particularly important PREGNANCY MANAGEMENT **Ewe Nutrition** - High nutrition required for ewe maintenance and optimal foetal growth - BW is major indicator o lamb survival - Condition score 3 is optimal for joining and lambing - Foetal growth - Ewe requires minimal extra feed for foetal growth until day 100 - Significant weight gain/loss may result in lower embryo survival - Placenta begins rapid growth 40 days after conception to day 95 = lower feed requirements - Foetal growth from day 90 -- birth = higher feed reqts - Twins and triplets require substantially higher ewe nutrition - FOO needs to be energy dense - BW of lamb influenced by: - Timing, quality and quantity of nutrition during pregnancy - Ewe condition, placental development - Genetics - Sex - Litter size - Gestation length - Lamb and BW major bearing on survival - Condition score 4 and 5 ewes - CS 4-5 @ 100 days post joining are too fat for lambing - 4 week feed restriction should reduce condition score by 0.5 - Only do this if pregnancy state is known - Controlling CS at this stage will: - Reduce risk of pregnancy toxaemia - Reduce lambing difficulties - Save feed - Increase lamb birth weights and survival - Provide flexibility if the season collapses - If pasture FOO is limiting supplementation is needed - Grazfeed may be useful for deciding how much supplementation is needed - LTEM app - Ag360 -- available 2021 **Pregnancy Diagnosis** - Only 31% of sheep producers scan for multiples - Ultrasound scanning can determine - If ewe is pregnant - Litter size - Approx stage of gestation - Scanning usually 90 days post joining - Ewes carrying multiples often require feed supplemented - Pregnancy scanning value per ewe: **Animal Health** - Vac 4-6 wks prior to lambing - Passive immunity through colostrum - Pregnancy toxaemia caused by nutritional stress - Accumulation of ketone in the blood - Ewes drawing on body reserves to meet nutritional requirements - Seperate from mob and unable to stand - Will die within 3-4 days - Best to prevent by managing condition score and feeding appropriately **Shearing/Crutching** - Lamb BW improved by shearing late in pregnancy - Must be done within 4-6 wks of lambing - Shearing in cold weather increases ewe nutritional requirements by 25-30% - May induce ewes to seek shelter during lambing - Increase lamb survival - May increase pregnancy toxaemia and ewe losses in cold weather - Studies have also shown 12wks out from lambing increases ewe intake at critical time **Causes of Lamb Loss** - Starvation -- mismothering - Significant cause - Traumatic birth - Poor ewe nutrition at lambing - Delayed onset of milk production - Lambing supervision - Pirating - Blocked/poor teats - Hypo -- and hyperthermia in both ewe and lamb can cause losses - Dystocia - Processes of birth not in sequence - Birth prior to full dilation of cervix - Bruises of head and neck and sometimes suffocation - More common in lambs from fat ewes - Higher rate of dystocia in good seasons - Colostrum - First milk in udder - Tick and yellow -- progresses to thin and white - Production and characteristics affected by nutrition 10 days prior to lambing - Poor quality feed reduces colostrum production - Leads to overly thick colostrum that is hard for lambs to suck - Occurs in twin bearing mothers with poor nutrition more often - Often cause of one twin dying PREDATOR CONTROL - Primary predation = attack of healthy lamb that would have survived - Secondary predation = attack of lamb in weakened state or dead - Prevention of predations begins 6 wks prior to lambing - Changing lambing paddock - Electric fencing - Altering lambing time - Traps - Baits - Guard animals - Providing alternative feed for predators PADDOCK MANAGEMENT DURING LAMBING - Selection of lambing paddock - Pasture availability - Shelter - Worm risk - Paddock size - Effective shelter from wind is imperative - Adequate feed and water so ewes don't wander far - Stocking rate -- minimise mismothering - Nutrition - Post-lambing nutrition important for weaning weights - Ewes mobilise body fat for lactation - Weight loss will depend on pasture availability - Supplements may be required - Need to train ewes to feed 3 wks prior to lambing - shelter - Northerly aspect = protects stock from col southern and westerly winds - Strategic windbreaks of trees and perennial grasses - Topography - Fencing - Stocking rate \ - Different economy sectors have different sustainability definitions for land uses and industries - For ag, 3 definitions relate to table 5.1 - Common elements to all3 are the requirement for primary production to: - Be profitable - Conserve the ag resource base - Have minimal negative impacts on the off-farm environment - What grower in their right mind would damage their resource base and their principle means of future wealth? - Ag sustainability is far from assured due to history of desertification and collapse of civilisations due to environmental failure - Raises questions about ability of primary producers to conserve inputs PADDOCK INDICATORS FOR SUSTAINABLE LIVESTOCK PRODUCTION - Rainfall use efficiency (RUE) is critical to best-practice farming - Producers should mx use of rainfall and solar radiation that falls on their farms to max plant productivity and profit - Relating to the production function below, farms that re more efficient at using rainfall = higher productivity because production function that maxs RUE will lie above one that does not - Maxxed RUE = max production achieved from a given suite of inputs/minimises the amount of other inputs required to achieve a given level of output - In terms of precip, maxxing RUE = max infiltration and amount of soil transpired by productive crops minimising runoff, deep drainage and evaporation - Livestock producers in high rainfall and wheat-sheep zones of Eastern Aus can achieve this by observing 6 key paddock indicators: 1. Maximise ground cover - Ground cover as pasture biomass and dead litter = minimises runoff/erosion - Acts as mulch once rainfall has entered the profile, decreasing evaporation **TOPIC 8:** DISCOUNTED CASH FLOW CAPITAL ALLOCATION AND DISCOUNTED CASH FLOW ANALYSIS - At end of farm management year, owner has surplus funds; what will the do with/how will they allocate them? 1. Principles of capital allocation 2. Analysis methods for capital allocations decision making 3. Application of capital allocation analysis in Excel - Outcome -- bring sound financial judgement to capital allocation decisions PRINCIPLES OF CAPITAL ALLOCATION - Growth without profitability erosion - Reduce risk - Capital versus labour - Working environment - Family needs - Business succession DISCOUNTED CASH FLOW ANALYSIS - How do you compare investment options that generate different cash flows at different times in the future throughout different investment periods? - Investment decisions require all future cash flows arising from the investment to be expressed in present value terms - Why? Because of the time-value of money - The opportunity cost of capital (investing in one project over another the farmer is forgoing the opportunity to earn money from other investment) - Consumer time preferences (can measure this preference as the individual time preference rate or the rate needed to compensate a consumer) - DCF Analysis - The discounting of future revenues and costs (cash flows) to allow the comparison of investments that take place over many years - Less risky projects tend to have lower returns on investment (other factors being equal)  - How to select an appropriate discount factor - The target cash rate of RBA, or the return on Aus Gov Bonds, considered the risk-free rate of return - Add a risk premium to the risk-free rate of return to get the discount factor - An appropriate risk premium to use is the premium banks charge borrowers for their loan; averaged across all banks, this is around 2% (with a range of 1-4% depending on the borrower's risk profile) - The 8% discount rate used in the previous example is made up of a 6% risk-free rate of return plus a 2% risk premium - How to select an appropriate DCF analysis period - Choose the length of time until the major fixed asset purchased in the investment requires replacement - Any values extending beyond about 20yrs will be trivial when discounted to present values - In practice, a 10yr investment period is used in Ag - DCF analysis criteria - Net present value (NPV) - Sum of discounted cashflow (net benefits) across the life of investment - Internal Rate of Return (IRR) - The discount rate (i) the reduces NPV to 0 - IRR benchmark: \20% - Breakeven Analysis (BEA) - The number of years it takes for the discounted annual benefits derived from the investment to = discounted costs - The sooner the cashflow from the project/investment pays back the amount invested, the better; capital is then available to be re-invested each yr - BEA benchmark: \3