Why Maternal Composites?
WE CHOSE MATERNAL COMPOSITES FOR A NUMBER OF REASONS.
Eliminating the high cost of buying in
replacement ewes
Decreasing biosecurity risks
Run a self-replacing, closed flock.
Increasing lambing percentages
“We love talking to our clients about the commercial side of
our sheep enterprise.”
Salway Maternal Composites
Raised to be resilient
Raised in a cool climate, at an altitude of 1400m, a 1000mm average rainfall and yearly snow, at Salway we need to produce hardy sheep. This is where structural integrity and genetics come into play. Salway Composite ewes have a natural mothering ability, are highly fertile and consistently produce high scanning and weaning rates. All ewes are scanned for singles, twins and triplets, allowing for ease of feed management to ensure the best chance of survival.
NO SECOND CHANCES AT SALWAY
Ewes that fail to raise a lamb, or that have poor structure are culled. This process produces an even, quality line of commercial ewes, whilst keeping fertility high and an emphasis on mothering traits.
SELF REPLACING FLOCK
Our closed maternal self-replacing flock has multiple benefits. It has not only helped with biosecurity risks, but to restock and build up numbers quickly after drought, adding to business resilience and recovery. Following the devastating 2018 – 2020 drought, our sheep enterprise was back to its pre-drought numbers within 12 months.
We currently have 1000 stud ewes and each year artificially inseminate between 200 – 400 ewes from leading maternal studs. This allows for quick genetic increase gain and to minimise the biosecurity risks of introducing sires.
At Salway we use a number of different sires from top maternal studs and uses the computer mating tool 'Matesel' to select the optimum ewes and rams for joining. In selecting stud sires, we place heavy weighting on both maternal and carcass traits, with the aim of increasing the MCP+ index. Our stud lambs are all weighed and tagged at birth, while their ewes are given a Maternal Behaviour (MB) score to measure their maternal traits.
Breeding Objectives
AT SALWAY, KILO PER HECTARE IS KING.
Our focus continues to be commercial and producing more kg/ha the main profit driver. We aim to produce sheep that not only survive, but thrive under commercial conditions.
The stud is only one component of the our business and what we enjoy most is seeing the results reflected in our commercial flock. This is driven by collecting excellent quality data in the stud which has a flow on effect to the rest of their flock.
Accountability
FOCUSING ON PROFIT DRIVERS
By participating in a benchmarking group through Newsome Agriculture, we are able to focus on profit drivers in our lamb production. Our main aim is the welfare of the flock and producing more kg/ha. We continually strive to make ourselves, and in turn our clients, as profitable as possible. During this process best practice for the land and our flock is always taken into consideration.
Our data accuracy on sheep genetics is high
We embrace various forms of technology within our stud and commercial operation. By utilising this, we are able to run a profitable and efficient enterprise with high data accuracy.