The recently released MLA 2025 Sheep Producers Intentions Survey (SPIS) provides valuable insights into the current state and future outlook of the Australian sheep industry.
As you navigate evolving market conditions and on-farm challenges, understanding key trends can help you make informed decisions for greater profitability and flock resilience.
Key insights from the survey:
- Positive sheepmeat outlook: Producer sentiment for the sheepmeat sector continues to strengthen, driven by improved commodity prices.
- Intentions to increase flock size: Despite an overall forecast decrease in the national breeding ewe flock, a significant 23 per cent (pc) of producers indicated their intention to increase their breeding ewe flock size in 2026. This highlights a proactive segment of the industry focused on growth.
- Merinos dominate breeding flocks: Merino sheep continue to be the dominant breed in the Australian breeding ewe flock, accounting for 64 pc of the total. 27 pc of Merino ewes are also used for crossbred lamb production.
- Critical on-farm factors: Producers identified "Weather/seasons" and "Feed" as the most impactful on-farm factors influencing their decisions. This underscores the importance of animal health and resilience in managing environmental variability.
Optimising your flock's reproductive performance is more critical than ever to capitalise on the strong sheepmeat market and build resilience against challenging conditions.
The Virbac Target Repro Program, featuring Ovastim® and Multimin®1, offers a proven solution to help you achieve your breeding goals.
Ovastim
Ovastim is a reproductive vaccine designed to increase ovulation rates in ewes. Studies have shown an average increase in lambing rates by 23 pc2. This directly translates to more lambs on the ground and higher overall productivity, supporting your goals if you are among the producers looking to increase your breeding ewe numbers.
Multimin
Multimin, a powerful trace mineral injection, complements Ovastim by supporting overall ewe health, improving embryo survival. Studies have shown that using Multimin pre-joining and pre-lambing results in an average 9 pc increase in marking percentages and an average 2.3 kg increase in lamb weaning weights3.
By integrating the Virbac Target Repro Program into your management strategy, you can enhance your flock's reproductive performance4, improve the health and survival of your lambs, and ultimately drive greater profitability for your sheep enterprise.
This article was written by Virbac for Seasons magazine.
References:
- Refer to registered labels APVMA n 51133, 61724 and 83674
- Geldard, H. et al. (1984). Immunisation of ewes with polyandroalbumin to improve fecundity. Aust. Vet. J. 61(4):130.
- Gonzalez-Rivas, P. A., et al. (2023). A Trace Mineral Injection before Joining and Lambing Increases Marking Percentages and Lamb Weights on Diverse Farms in Victoria, Australia. Animals, 13(1), 178.
- Cox, G et al. (2023). The effect of polyandroalbumin vaccination and an injectable trace mineral top-up pre-mating and pre-lambing on scanning rates in high performing composite ewes, ISVC 2023 proceedings, Spain, Seville, 6-10 March 2023.
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