“Merinos are our pride and joy,” says Matthew Morgan (35), who returned home to farm near Tarkastad in the Eastern Cape with his late father, Jonathan, in 2009 before establishing his first pastures a year later.
“With the pastures, I tried to maximise the potential of existing land so that I could produce more lambs without a big capital outlay, such as buying a new farm.”
Today, with 100ha of pastures, Morgan has shifted from an almost exclusive focus on fine wool to a more balanced production of wool and store lambs that enables a ewe to generate an income of R1 500 a year for an expense of between R200 and R250.
LAMBS AND WOOL
Morgan’s dedication to the production of exceptional Merino lambs is symbolised by the replacement of wethers with productive ewes, despite the former’s significant contribution to wool volumes in the past. “Yes, wethers are great bale fillers, but they spend the whole year not giving anything else [except wool] and taking up space on the veld,” he explains. “Ewes can produce a lamb every year, which can be sold for the same value as a wether.”
In order to produce heavier lambs, he has concentrated on increasing the size of ewes to the current average of 50kg. Although this approach has seen his wool’s fibre diameter increase to between 18 and 19 microns, the clip still achieves prices 15% higher than the average achieved at most auctions. Morgan was one of the first farmers in South Africa to produce wool worth R200/ kg a few years ago.
This story is from the January 3 - 10, 2020 edition of Farmer's Weekly.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber ? Sign In
This story is from the January 3 - 10, 2020 edition of Farmer's Weekly.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Sign In
Africa goes from net carbon sink to source
New research shows Africa's impact on greenhouse gases and the need to focus on climate-smart agriculture
Ireland potato farmers unable to complete planting
Irish potato farmers have reported a delay in harvest and said that the UK might have to prepare for shortages of the produce. The shortfall is due to extreme wet weather during their planting season.
Zero-residue fresh produce a reality
Retail giants are calling for caution when using biologicals and chemical pesticides,
Big boost for mohair producers in Eastern Cape
A collaboration between the Eastern Cape Development Corporation (ECDC) and the Mohair Empowerment Trust (MET) has resulted in a R1,4 million injection into four emerging Angora goat farming operations in the Eastern Cape.
KZN Youth Show at Roval Agricultural Exhibition
The KZN Youth Show will run from Friday, 24 May to Sunday, 26 May at the Royal Showgrounds in Pietermaritzburg.
Hemp permits and irrigation system handed over
In an effort to fast-track the entry of rural farmers into the cannabis and hemp industries, KwaZuluNatal Minister for Agriculture and Rural Development, Super Zuma, visited the Shukasibheme Project in Mbazwana, a co-operative in Mseleni, uMhlabuyalingana in the Umkhanyakude District, to hand over cannabis and hemp permits as well as a borehole and irrigation system.
Meet some of the heroes behind avitourism destinations
Exploring what the Garden Route offers birdwatchers, Brian Berkman discovers some special people who run hospitable places to meet and see a variety of species.
What the Citrus Academy offers aspiring producers
Cobus du Plessis takes a look at the Citrus Growers' Association of Southern Africa's Citrus Academy and how it is helping to develop aspiring farmers in the sector.
Natural-born killers of the insect world
The Myrmeleontidae family of lacewings from the Neuroptera order of insects consists of about 2 000 species of which 125 are found in South Africa.
Seeder kick-starts vegetation in challenging environments
Dr George Craven of Noorspoort, Steytlerville, in the south-eastern Karoo, is successfully using a home-built 'bedstead seeder' to re-establish veld plants in an arid area, writes Roelof Bezuidenhout.