Darren focused on pushing the boundaries of Merino profitability

A decade of micron testing and a focus on fertility plus fleece weight is paying dividends for Riverina sheep producer Darren Bahr.

The commercial Merino breeder from The Rock, in southern NSW, fleece weighs every ewe at 18 months and micron tests before shearing.

Using electronic identification for data collection, Mr Bahr ranks breeding ewes for profitability on a with-in flock index, with the aim of keeping productive ewes longer.
He has identified a range in fleece values of $37 to $91 in individual sheep, with the top ewes cutting over 10.5kg.

Mr Bahr aims to increase those higher performing individuals while balancing the correlation between fertility and higher fleece values.

Darren Bahr with a fleece from his maiden ewes, weighing 9kg and testing at 18 micron

A staple from a maiden ewe testing at 18 micron and cutting 9kg

Classed by John Driscoll, the flock is pushing the upper boundaries of fertility with a lamb marking of 121 per cent in maiden ewes last year. The mixed age ewes marked 132 per cent to give an overall average of 127 per cent.

Darren farms in partnership with his father Colin and uncle Graham Bahr.
The family runs a 1619ha freehold and 769ha leasehold aggregation across the properties Kelvin South, Milford and Yarrimbah.

Set in a 450mm rainfall zone, the undulating country ranges from red clay loams to heavy clays. The mixed enterprise comprises 1790ha of canola, wheat and barley crops dovetailed with the sheep flock.

The family has used the same bloodline for the past 25 years and runs a self-replacing flock of 1600 Pastora blood ewes.

Adult ewes average 19 micron while cutting 7kg of wool while maiden ewes average 18.3 micron and cut 7.7kg of wool. At classing, the maiden ewes are ear tagged according to their micron and fleece value and later ranked on their pregnancy and maternal traits.

Micron and greasy fleece weight testing has revealed the top 35 per cent of ewes average 18.5 micron, and cut 8.8kg of wool valued at $68.27 per head.

On analysis, the difference between the top and bottom 35 per cent of ewes equated to $18.89 per fleece, with a micron difference of 2.9 and fleece weight of 2.2kg.

In dollar terms, the difference between the top and bottom sheep was a total fleece value of $2757.
For the first time this summer, the Bahr family joined their seven-month-old ewe lambs straight after the rams came out of the breeding ewes.
These lambs were pregnancy tested in July at a 60 per cent conception rate, with 25 per cent of those scanned with multiples.

Darren Bahr and Tim Westblade with 12-month-old ewe weaners on the point of lambing.

Pastora Polls principal Tim Westblade said management was the key when joining ewes at such a young age.

“This is not for all types of sheep or producers, but skeletal growth of the ewe will not be compromised if the management is done right,’’ Mr Westblade said.
“Going off last year’s results, we believe if 60 per cent of ewe lambs can lamb by 14 months of age, gross income will be lifted by 15 per cent,’’ he said.

Mr Westblade said it was encouraging to see a young commercial producer so passionate about the wool industry and focused on identifying profitable sheep.
He said commercial producers were increasingly taking up micron testing and fleece weighing to improve productivity.

“On the cropping side, there is precision guidance machinery down to a 2cm accuracy – we need the equivalent technology in the sheep industry to enable it to move ahead,’’ he said.
Mr Bahr, 33, has been a professional shearer for 15 years and is now a shearing instructor for the Riverina Institute of TAFE.

He is also working alongside John Driscoll to become a qualified sheep classer, and is already classing several local flocks.
Pre-drought, the Bahr family had run 1600 ewes and destocked down to a core flock during the dry years.

In order to rebuild numbers, cull ewes have been retained and joined to White Suffolk rams.
“I’m passionate about sheep and wool, and have stuck with it,’’ Mr Bahr said. “Like cropping, it’s best to keep your rotations, and stick with what you know,’’ he said.
“We have made good money from wool, turning off our wether lambs and surplus sheep sales.
“There has been a definite swing to cropping around here at the expense of sheep.
“Benchmarking has shown the most profitable enterprise is an 18 micron, self-replacing Merino flock, and that is what we’ve got.’’

The last consignment of wool sold achieved 924c/kg greasy for 19 micron adult ewe fleeces with a yield of 67.5 per cent. The 18 micron wool from the maiden ewes at 61.5 per cent yield sold for 821c/kg greasy.

All of the wether lambs are sold through the yards at Wagga Wagga at nine to 11 months of age, after finishing on dryland lucerne.

The last consignment topped at $103 and cut an average of 3.8kg of wool worth $32. Last year’s, surplus maiden ewes were sold privately to a restocker for $180.
Mr Bahr said the breeding objective of the past 10 years of reducing micron and increasing greasy fleece weight had been achieved.

The focus was now shifting to increasing fleece value and fertility.
“We want to identify the highest value sheep in the flock and increase them in numbers by using known figures,’’ Mr Bahr said.

Darren Bahr and Tim Westblade inspect maiden ewes and lambs on the Bahr family property at The Rock.

lambs on the Bahr family property at The Rock.