Breeding Fuss-Free Sheep

The changing climate and rising input costs are forcing farmers to find innovative ways to remain economically viable. Hugo Wiehahn, owner of Hugo Wiehahn en Seuns Mutton Merino stud near Caledon, spoke to Glenneis Kriel about how his livestock have helped him achieve this goal.

Since starting to keep production records in 1953, Hugo Wiehahn en Seuns Merino stud has won one competition after another, establishing itself as one of the finest Mutton Merino studs in the country. Even more impressively, the stud has achieved the highest ram prices at regional auctions in Paarl and won the prize for the best fleeces at the South African Mutton Merino Championships four times over the past five years. All of this was despite their farm Tussenbeide, situated near Caledon in the Overberg region of the Western Cape, receiving below-average rain over this period.

NO PAMPERING

According to Wiehahn, his Mutton Merino sheep can cope with almost anything that nature throws at them.

“The breed is highly resilient and better able to survive on lower-quality forage than most other breeds. Our sheep spend up to five months a year on stubble and marginal lands along the mountainsides with only phosphate and protein licks, without this affecting production negatively. This represents a major cost saving, especially during times of drought.”

The fact that the sheep are not picky eaters allows Wiehahn to feed them and his Jersey cattle ammonia (NH3)-treated straw to pull them through the winter. The straw is stacked in rows and covered with plastic, after which ammonia is pumped into the enclosed space. This treatment increases the digestibility of the straw by up to 12% and the protein content from roughly 4% to 6,5%, which in turn improves the milk solid content of Wiehahn’s Jerseys up to 20%. It also increases the intake of the straw.

For the cows, a mixture of 750kg of silage is combined with 250kg of ammonia straw; for the sheep, 150kg of molasses, 150kg of lucerne and 150kg of maize are mixed with 150kg of ammonia straw. The straw and silage are produced from wheat and oats grown on the farm.