Managing growth of ewe weaners

This Producer Demonstration Site (PDS) is designed to demonstrate improvements in sheep reproductive performance amongst the Merino flock. The primary cause of this is mismanagement of ewe weaners during puberty. This is not entirely the fault of managers. Climate change has had a profound impact on pasture growth in the tablelands and pastoral belts, which has significantly reduced the quantity and quality of feed usually allocated to weaners. This PDS aims to demonstrate that differential nutritional management of ewe weaners in a self-replacing flock improves retention rate of replacement ewes leading to increased net reproductive rate of the ewe flock.