President's Report 2002

We need to improve the size of our ewes and the weaning percentage along with a program to educate growers and processors about the bone out %. Our sheep do not have the rounded out looks of the traditional meat crosses as a result of their fat distribution.

I would also like to gain a better understanding of the quality, taste and leanness characteristics of the meat. To date we have not had enough animals to do this sort of work but the numbers are building up and we would be prepared to offer some of our flock for these evaluations.

WOOL We have a major story to tell here and I believe we would have looked better in the national sire trials if the true value of our product was taken into account. We are working hard to ensure the acceptance of our wool in the handicraft area increases, with the expectation that this will lead to a greater appreciation and demand from the commercial wool buyers. I believe we are starting to see some of this happening as per Graham and Tony's results.

I have to admit progress has been slow but nonetheless progress has been made. Whilst the drought is not helping our cause at present as things improve the need to rapidly build up the national flock should enable us to highlight the benefits of multiple lambing first crosses.

I would like to wish you all well for the Christmas and New Year period and propose we arrange to meet in Holbrook in March to have our mid year meeting. This will also give us the opportunity of visiting the Chastons property and looking at their operation. I will, in conjunction with Jean organise an agenda and welcome any thoughts, comments or agenda items you would like to have discussed.

Gerry Shepherd (President)

Gerry and Maureen Shepherd wearing hand spun, hand knitted Finn woollen jumpers at the Australian Sheep and Wool Show at Bendigo in July 2002.	Meet Basil, a pure bred Finn Ram whom just loves all the attention at the S & W Show. Basil and the Finn genetics are improving the productive performance in many breeds. He is an extremely flexible forager able to survive in rugged climates and on high roughage diet.

FINNS MAKE THEIR MARK IN FERTILITY

One of the nation's newer breeds, the Australian Finnsheep made its debut at the Holbrook, NSW Sheep and Wool Fair in early November.

Commercial woolgrowers Tony and Melissa Chaston exhibited purebred Finn rams and ewes, and showcased Finn-Merino cross ewes to the industry.

Finnsheep were first imported in 1994 but have been excluded from showing until now while stud masters build numbers. Finnsheep are one of several Northern European short-tailed Landrace breeds and are known for their high fertility, with lambing percentages of 260.

As members of the Australian Finnsheep Breeders Association, the Chaston's aim to use the Finn to breed an efficient prime lamb dam suited to Australia's sheep/wheat belt and higher rainfall grazing zones.

The Chaston's had progeny tested Finn rams within their Merino flock since 1995 before making a move in 2000 to start their own pure bred flock to breed replacement rams. They chose Finns because they wanted to breed a first cross ewe with high fertility.

Their merino ewes average 22.5 micron and have found generally the Finn adds one micron and drops 1 Kg off the wool cut. The Finn adds 10mm to the length of the wool staple, there is no increase in prickle factor and there is no back wrinkle (on The sheep) meaning easier shearing. They sold 22.8-micron wool from our F1 ewes in July and received 690c/kg.

So they have saleable wool and a first cross ewe with enough milk to support an average 170 per cent lambing.

Tony said that the Finn was a lean breed, carrying its body fat around the internal organs. This makes the F1 ewe ideal for crossing with terminal sires. They cross their F1 ewes with Dorset and Texel Rams, and take the lambs to export weights.

Soon VIAscan will be coming on line (in abattoirs), there will be increased fat penalties and the Finn can keep fat scores to an average of 3.5 at a carcass weight of 24kg plus.

Tony prefers to sell the F1 Wether lambs direct as the animals have a high saleable meat yield. It's hard to convince people in the sale yard because there is not the bone and the fat.

People can see the wool and body size but cannot see the high protein milk, high fertility and the fact that the breed carries body fat around the internal organs.

Chaston's can turn off F1 Finn lambs two months earlier than Merino lambs in our feedlot and that is money saved at 20c a kg a head a day. (This article has been adapted from Weekly Times Nov 13th, '02)

Tony and Melissa Chaston use Australian Finn
rams over Merino ewes to produce a versatile
prime lamb dam at their Holbrook enterprise.

A FAIR GO FOR FARMERS!

"It all started back in '66 when they changed from pounds to dollars - me overdraft doubled."
"Then they brought in kilograms instead of pounds - me wool clip dropped by half."
"Then they changed rain to millimetres and we haven't had an inch of rain since."
"They brought in Celcius, and it never got over 40 degrees - no wonder me wheat won't grow."
"Then they changed acres to hectares and I end up with half the land I had."
"By this time I'd had it, and decided to sell out. I got the place in the agent's hands when they changed from miles to kilometres."
"Now, I'm too far out of town for anyone to buy the flamin' place!"

LODDON RISE FINNSHEEP