The Savage Corriedale lambs about two weeks before they were sold.

THE value in breeding a dual purpose sheep has been reinforced for Corriedale breeder Milton Savage with the sale of some of his lambs for up to $318 at Ballarat’s Central Victorian Livestock Exchange last week.

Mr Savage is a third generation Corriedale breeder with the Gambier View-Compton House stud at Derrinallum, with son Charlie the fourth generation. He has been breeding the sheep since 1951.

“They’ve been breed to be a true dual purpose breed for doing ability, milking and carcase.”

The September-October drop late March shorn lambs were finished on a self-sown barley and rape crop with a barley and lupin ration, and when sold last Tuesday were estimated to have a carcase weight of 28kg.

Mr Savage said $318 was the highest price he had received for lambs although he believed he had produced better lambs in other years. The total consignment of 51 lambs averaged $306.

Mr Savage said the sale result reinforced his belief that the Corriedale as breed should maintain a stronger focus on the breed on its dual purpose attributes, and as a self-replacing alternative to the first cross ewe for prime lamb production.

“You wouldn’t get first cross lambs selling that well.

“I didn’t expect that for those, but whatever I am doing I’m doing it right.”

Mr Savage believes there is potential to improve the overall carcase quality of the breed, and in 2016 he culled about half his Corriedale stud ewes to remove the influence of a New Zealand ram with a magnificent head, fleece and long body that lacked a good hindquarter. Lambs sired by the ram that lacked the muscle to get up quickly at birth sparked the move. He has noticed that other breeders have also improved the carcases in their sheep.

Mr Savage said he was measuring his carcase quality visually and by eye muscle area measurements, plus live weighing to assess weight gain in his studs

“I’m culling heavily and those that are quick growing are getting put back into the stud and the slower growing ewes get put to terminal sires.”

Mr Savage said Corriedale ram sales have collapsed, with a large Merino stud in New South Wales selling more rams than all the Corriedale studs in Australia. The breed has lost ground to composite and first cross ewes as prime lamb mothers.

Nutrien agent John Wagstaff said the Savage lambs were the best Corriedale lambs he had seen.

“The difference with the job now is that we are getting paid for the feeding.

“So he did feed them very well and they were a very good product.”

The lambs’

Carcase weight put them in line of strong competition between domestic and export companies at the saleyard.

Mr Wagstaff said the top draft sold to Kilcoy at Kyneton and Midfield Meats at Warrnambool bought the seconds.

“There is definitely a home for the Corriedale south of the Divide — I’m not too sure about north of the Divide – but south of the Hamilton Highway I think definitely is a place for them as a prime lamb mother and as a mother of first cross ewe.

“I know several fellows who have put a border over a Coirriedale ewe and they have a very good result,” he said.

Mr Wagstaff said the breed had lost favour with the popularity of the composites.

“I think all that has a fair bit to do with the push into composites.

“I think the south the doing capacity of Corriedales would match it with most – to be able to handle the cold and the wet when it is cold and wet in the south.”

But he said to stay competitive Corriedale breeders need to maintain a carcase and early growth focus in their breeding.