The Sheep Business Production And Marketing Guide For Australian Merino Wool

A comprehensive guide to Australian wool growing, published in 2006 and now out of print. This book covers choice of wool -growing enterprises, identifying, customer needs, assessing profitability, establishing breeding objectives, selection and culling, joining management, nutrition, pastures and grazing management, flock health, preparation and sale of the wool clip. Table of Contents: Chapter 1. The Australian wool industry Chapter 2. Enterprise choice Chapter 3. Who are your customers? Chapter 4. Can Merino wool be profitable? Chapter 5. Establish your breeding objective Chapter 6. Choosing a ram source Chapter 7. Selection and culling Chapter 8. Ram and ewe management Chapter 9. Joining management Chapter 10. Nutrition requirements and digestion Chapter 11. Wool production from pasture Chapter 12. Grazing management Chapter 13. Flock health Chapter 14. Preparing and selling your wool clip Chapter 15. How much is your wool worth? Appendices: 1. Gross margin templates 2. Glossary of wool processing terms 3. Cost of production template 4. Individual animal management 5. Liveweight and body condition assessment 6. Pasture assessment 7. Fodder budgeting calculation template 8. Predicted daily intake of pasture by ewes 9. Some sheep diseases and their prevention 10. Merino wool clip worksheet 11. Shearing data and clip analysis templates References Further Reading

Covering a broad range of topics relevant to the sheep and wool industry, this newly expanded edition—containing 11 new chapters and a more international scope—discusses future developments in all areas and provides an in-depth review of the meat aspects of the market. Separated into five distinct sections, the comprehensive survey summarizes the major world sheep and wool industries, biological principles, management, production systems, and the preparation, processing, and marketing of meat and wool. References and web links at the end of each chapter present further sources of information. From paddock to plate and farm to fabric, this overview is a must-have for all those involved in the trade, including producers, brokers, exporters, and processors.

Sheep Farming for Meat and Wool contains practical, up-to-date information on sheep production and management for producers throughout temperate Australia. It is based on research and extension projects conducted over many years by the Department of Primary Industries and its predecessors and the University of Melbourne. The book covers business management, pasture growth and management, nutrition and feed management, drought management, reproductive management, disease management, genetic improvement, animal welfare and working dog health. It also gives seasonal reminders for a spring lambing wool-producing flock, for autumn lambing Merino ewes joined to Border Leicester rams, and for winter lambing crossbred ewes joined to terminal sires. It will guide new and established farmers, students of agriculture and service providers with detailed information on the why and how of sheep production, and will assist farmer groups to initiate activities aimed at increasing their efficiency in specific areas of sheep production.

Times are changing. Until fairly recently many farmers were simply producers. Their energies were focused on growing crops and producing livestock. Selling was often just a matter of sending produce to the local saleyards or silo or contacting their stock and station agent. Producers were price takers rather than price managers. Now many farmers have become marketers rather than just producers, and in the near future many more will make the fundamental shift from an on-farm focus as price-takers to a wider approach that includes price risk management and marketing. Official marketing authorities are playing less of a role in marketing Australian agricultural produce. As part of this deregulation, farmers have many more choices, marketing tools and options that they can use to their advantage provided they know how to use them. At the same time consumer expectations have become more complex. Farmers find themselves required to respond to concerns about animal welfare practices, health and food safety aspects of their products, and the environmental and ethical impact of their production methods. The marketing landscape has therefore become more complex and producers need good marketing skills to navigate their way through the pros and cons of the many alternatives they face. This is the challenge for producers—to apply a balance of production, finance, people and marketing skills to run their farm businesses successfully. This book gives farmers the tools to become a marketer rather than just a producer. It details market specifications, product promotion, quality control and how to respond to consumer demands for animal welfare practices, health, food safety, environmental and ethical issues.

This book, designed as a text for tertiary students, covers a broad range of topics relevant to the Australian sheep and wool industry, and describes the principles upon which various activities in the sheep and wool industry are based, together with the practical implications of these principles.