The rainfall for Hamilton, as an example of this region, is typified by a winter dominant pattern, but not classic Mediterranean. See graph above of Hamil- ton rainfall since 1869 on page 14. Most lambs back- grounded in the southern high rain- fall zone are back- grounded in the same region with many held on the farm they were born on. Source of lambs The figure above from Mecardo indicates Eastern Australian yardings on page 14 are indicative of lamb availability through the year, with the supply dropping slightly in the middle of winter, but otherwise reasonably even apart from a flush during November and December. This used to more pronounced with a large spring flush of lambs similar to WA now. Hamilton saleyards, see column graph above on page 15, has a pronounced flush of lambs in November and December. Ballarat and Bendigo supply is more even around the year, as can be viewed in column graphs on page 16. While Bendigo starts to see a rise in lamb yardings from September onwards until declining into December and subsequent months, Ballarat market’s rise is slightly later. There is somewhat of an overlap between the different markets reflecting the different zones that tend to supply these them. Destination of lambs to Victorian producers from Ballarat saleyards
Source of lambs to Hamilton saleyards Unfortunately, while there is overall agreement about total numbers back- grounded and fin- ished on farm, pre- cise numbers of their source is not known by Agriculture Victo- ria or stock agents. In northern parts of the High Rainfall Zone pastures will tend to be based phalaris, but perennial ryegrass and lucerne may feature occasional- ly. Summer fodder crops become rarer. and less to irrigation areas along the Murray River in the north west of the state. There is also a lot of movement of lambs from farm to farm, but Agriculture Victorian are not sure of accurate numbers. Agents tend to agree with the overall estimate of backgrounded lambs, but also are not really sure of how many stay on the farm of origin to be backgrounded or how many are moved direct between farm of origin to another backgrounding farm. Estimate of lamb numbers As noted previously, Agriculture Victoria estimate about 3 million lambs are backgrounded in this region of Victoria. It is the dominant destination of lambs backgrounded in Victoria including those bred on the same farm they are backgrounded on. The graphs on this page and page 20 indicate where the lambs are sourced that go to Ballarat, and Hamilton saleyards. The first graph is for Hamilton sale- yards and the second graph is for Ballarat. Pasture types There are a variations in the pasture base and specialist summer crops to back- ground and finish lambs. Firstly, in the northern regions of this high rainfall southern zone will have a pasture base more dominated by phalaris, sub clover and to a lesser extent Vic-
It was assumed that the lambs were crutched but not shorn to simplify the gross margin. In many cases they would be shorn, which is unlikely to change the overall gross margin due to wool income covering the cost of shearing in many cases. Freight costs will vary a lot, but in this zone abattoirs and saleyards are relatively close. Selling costs are minimal with only MLA levies taken out, as over recent years the majority of lambs are sold direct, and do not necessarily have an agent cost. Eastern Riverina Gross Margins Some more detailed assumptions behind the Eastern Riverina zone Gross Margins: - The lamb is assumed to be born in June and sold as a store in October at 28 kg. It is a Merino 1st cross from a terminal sire. For the first 50 days lambs are backgrounded on green grass/early ma- turing dry grass into early December, when they are moved onto lucerne, which at this time of year is still actively growing. The lucerne is part of many pastures in this zone, although there is a lot of variation in individual farms. Most are dryland, but irrigated lucerne is also used to background and fatten lambs on some farms. Thus, they gain 10 kg, or 100 g/hd/day over 100 days, which again is considered conservative. In many cases, they would continue to graze the lucerne till they reach 50 kg, but this is also highly dependent on summer rain and residual soil moisture levels from the spring. They then assumed to be fed a grain ration for 43 days, a mix of 55% barley, 25% lupins and 20% hay. The feed conversion ratio is 6.1:1 as fed. They gain 280 g/hd/day for 43 days. Labour costs are similar to the high rainfall zone. It was assumed that the lambs were crutched but not shorn to simplify the gross margin. In many cases they would be shorn, which is unlikely to change the overall gross margin due to wool income covering the cost of shearing in many cases.