"The extra lambs meant more to cull and more to sell, further lifting profitability of the enterprise"

A long-term program to improve flock reproductive performance at Tom’s Lake merino stud has yielded outstanding results for the Crossley family at Booligal, according to Rob Crossley.

Twenty five years ago, Rob’s father Jim Crossley decided that if other livestock industries were selecting for reproduction then it would be beneficial to apply this to merino flocks.  “You only had to look at how merinos compared to crossbreds to realise that there were gains to be made in lambmarking percentages.  We believed there had been too much focus on other traits to the exclusion of fertility,” explained Rob Crossley.

“Naturally, when choosing to select for reproductive traits we were worried we would end up culling our best sheep on other attributes.  And in fact this did happen for the first few years.

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