Modelling a Transition from Purebred Romney to Fully Shedding Wiltshire–Romney Crossbred

Considering the current low prices for coarse wool (fibre diameter > 30 µm), a grading up transition to a shedding flock may eliminate wool harvesting costs and increase sheep farm profit. This transition could be achieved by breeding non-shedding ewes with Wiltshire rams. A bio-economic system-d...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inAnimals (Basel) Vol. 10; no. 11; p. 2066
Main Authors Farrell, Lydia Jane, Morris, Stephen Todd, Kenyon, Paul R., Tozer, Peter R.
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Basel MDPI AG 01.11.2020
MDPI
Subjects
Age
Agricultural economics
Agriculture
Animal welfare
Beef cattle
bio-economic
Breeding
cashflow
Cross-breeding
Economic models
Farm buildings
Farmers
Farming
Feeds
Harvesting
Livestock farming
Model accuracy
New Zealand
Physiological aspects
profit
Profits
Rams
Shedding
Sheep
Sheep breeding
system-dynamics
Wool
New Zealand
North Island
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Summary:Considering the current low prices for coarse wool (fibre diameter > 30 µm), a grading up transition to a shedding flock may eliminate wool harvesting costs and increase sheep farm profit. This transition could be achieved by breeding non-shedding ewes with Wiltshire rams. A bio-economic system-dynamics model of a pastoral sheep farming enterprise was used to simulate this grading up transition from 2580 Romney ewes to a similarly-sized flock of fully shedding third or fourth cross Wiltshire–Romney ewes. The total annual sheep feed demand was constrained within a ±5% range to minimise disruption to the on-farm beef cattle enterprise. Wool harvesting expenses were eliminated after seven years of transition, and with reduced feed demand for wool growth, the post-transition shedding flocks had more ewes producing more lambs and achieving greater annual profit compared with the base Romney flock. The net present values of transition were 7% higher than the maintenance of the base Romney flock with a farmgate wool price of $2.15/kg. Results suggest that coarse wool-producing farmers should consider a grading up transition to a shedding flock, and the collection of data on the production of Wiltshire–Romney sheep in New Zealand would improve the accuracy of model predictions.
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ISSN:2076-2615
2076-2615
DOI:10.3390/ani10112066