Participation in Lifetime Ewe Management results in changes in stocking rate, ewe management and reproductive performance on commercial farms
J. P. Trompf A I , D. J. Gordon B C , R. Behrendt B H , M. Curnow D H , L. C. Kildey C E and A. N. Thompson B F G HA J. T. Agri-Source, Mill Park, Vic. 3082, Australia.
B Department of Primary Industries Victoria, Private Bag 105, Hamilton, Vic. 3300, Australia.
C Rural Industries Skills Training, Private Bag 105, Hamilton, Vic. 3300, Australia.
D Department of Agriculture and Food WA, 444 Albany Highway, Albany, WA 6330, Australia.
E Present address: Centre for Sustainable Agriculture, Goulburn Oven Institute of TAFE, Tone Road, Wangaratta, Vic. 3677, Australia.
F Present address: Department of Agriculture and Food Western Australia, 3 Baron-Hay Court, South Perth, WA 6151, Australia.
G Present address: School of Veterinary and Biomedical Sciences, Murdoch University, 90 South Street, Murdoch, WA 6150, Australia.
H CRC for Sheep Industry Innovation and the University of New England, Armidale, NSW 2351, Australia.
I Corresponding author. Email: j.trompf@latrobe.edu.au
Animal Production Science 51(9) 866-872 https://doi.org/10.1071/AN10164
Submitted: 30 August 2010 Accepted: 13 May 2011 Published: 14 September 2011
Journal Compilation © CSIRO Publishing 2011 Open Access CC BY-NC-ND
Abstract
Lifetime Ewe Management is an extension program designed to assist sheep producers to improve their understanding of ewe nutrition and to develop the skills and confidence to improve their management. The course is based on a small-group extension model and was developed by the Lifetimewool project as a way to incorporate the research findings, economic modelling and producer guidelines developed by the project. Lifetime Ewe Management commenced in Victoria in the spring of 2006 and by the end of 2010, 221 producers had completed the 2-year program. The changes in knowledge, attitudes, skills, aspirations and management practices of 182 of these participants were examined. Participants of the Lifetime Ewe Management program increased their whole-farm stocking rates by 14%, increased lamb marking percentages by 11–13% depending on enterprise type, and decreased ewe mortality rates by 43%. These improvements resulted from a significant change in the perceived importance of managing ewes to condition-score targets to improve profitability and increases in the ability of participants to condition score ewes, assess pasture quantity and quality and feed budget. These changes were consistent regardless of how innovative the participants were at the beginning of the program. The appeal and success of the program was attributed largely to the small-group model where producers worked with their own flock under the guidance of a skilled facilitator and with access to effective decision-making tools. The Lifetime Ewe Management program design provides a blueprint for future extension programs striving to achieve widespread practice change.
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