Sheep nutrition plays a critical role in determining flock productivity, animal welfare and enterprise profitability.
Nutritional requirements change across different stock classes and production stages, particularly during joining, pregnancy and lactation. If these requirements aren’t met, producers may experience reduced fertility, lower lamb survival, slower growth rates and poorer condition heading into key production windows.
Seasonal variability and changes in pasture feed quality adds another layer of complexity.
It’s against this backdrop that Southern Dirt is bringing expert advisors and producers together for its upcoming sheep nutrition workshop, supported by South West NRM.
Southern Dirt Executive Officer Sheridan Kowald says the workshop will address some of the questions they get from members about sheep nutrition with expert speakers including vet Dr Judy Burson and consultant Ed Riggall.
“(Experts will) go over the sheep nutrition requirements, feed budgeting, feed efficiency, confinement feeding and feedlotting practices. There are always people looking into that, especially now with the live export transition happening,” Sheridan said.
“I think fertility and pregnancy are always questions that pop up. How can producers better change their farming practices to suit this so they can get more out of their fertility and pregnancy and the lambing ewes, because they’re the money makers at the end of the day.
“I think what is important is to get producers in a room and getting the conversations happening as well, because there’s no better way for producers to learn than peer-to-peer learning.”
Sheridan says the workshop is designed to be practical and discussion-based, giving producers a chance to test ideas against both expert advice and local experience.
Understanding sheep nutrition isn’t about chasing a single “perfect” ration, but about recognising how requirements shift between classes of stock, stages of production and changing seasonal conditions.
Register for the Southern Dirt sheep nutrition workshop HERE.
Sources:
Nutrition Requirements for Sheep – Victorian Farmers Federation
Useful Tables-Sheep | Feeding Livestock | Agriculture Victoria
Supplementary feeding and budgeting | Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development