A HIGH WAMMCO Select score for 65 of the 113 cull ewe hoggets processed for Kojonup stud breeders Tim and Steph Stevenson in December did more than assist the couple to win their first WAMMCO Producer of the Month title.
Tim said the 113 May-June-drop Poll Dorset and White Suffolk ewes were culled from the breeding program at Kaula Dale after muscle scanning showed they did not meet the EBV criteria.
"The fact that our culls achieved a high WAMMCO Select score was confirmation that our breeding policy is on the right track," Tim said.
Another recent consignment of Kaula Dale's cull ewe lambs achieved a 60 per cent WAMMCO Select grading.
The December 2011 Producer of the Month winning consignment from Kaula Dale consisted of 113 ewe lambs with an average weight of 22.67kg that returned an average $114.99 a head with heavier lambs paying up to $155.92 a head.
There was a WAMMCO Select payment of $5.46 a head on the 65 qualifying lambs, equivalent to an extra 13.9c/kg or $3.14 a head over the draft.
A dedicated young sheepman, Tim moved to Kojonup from Bolgart about 10 years ago and now runs 2000 ewes in a stud breeding program.
Tim began breeding Prime SAMM and Suffolk rams at Bolgart, including White Dorpers, White Suffolks and other breeds before taking over the Jasper family's Jolma Poll Dorset stud at Cunderdin two years ago.
Tim now holds annual ram sales at Kojonup in October and Cunderdin in September.
He will also be hosting a genetics and lamb production information day in conjunction with WAMMCO at Kaula Dale, situated south of Kojonup on Wednesday, February 15, 2012.
Tim follows a policy of identifying and selling rams on their genetic potential rather than their breed and at a starting price of around $400.
"We are selecting and breeding rams for specific areas and for specific local and export processed lamb or live export markets," Tim said.
Tim also operates a pregnancy scanning business covering nearly 400,000 stud and commercial ewes Statewide which assists lamb producers achieve better progress and profitability.
Agronomist Paul Omodei is working with Tim on grazing and fodder pastures to maximise livestock production on the 800 hectare Kojonup property and is also looking at grazing patterns and other production tools to integrate the 300-400ha annual canola-cereal cropping rotation.
Tim sees the role of WAMMCO continuing to be critical to the future of WA's lamb breeding industry.
"They have shown the lead in rewarding lean meat production and value-adding to enable profits to be passed on," he said.
"Global supply and demand factors will continue to dominate the price of sheepmeats for the short to medium term."
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