StockCARE® is the only farm business improvement tool that has been proven to add value

Sheep for Profit® Pilot project

Over 3 years 27% more cash surplus for Sheep for Profit® farms compared to the national average - $5 per stock unit better

Before going commercial Sheep for Profit® was tested as a pilot project (2000/2001 to 2003/2004). The project was funded by Meat & Wool Innovation Ltd and the 45 participating farmers.

The primary objective was to improve income from the sheep enterprises by $12 per ewe. We beat that by 37 cents so the improvement was worth $1,546.250 over 125,000 ewes. The major improvement was an extra 6.3kg lambs weaned per ewe mated.

Financial performance was compared to the national average of all farms in the M & WI Economic Service annual survey from the year before the pilot project started to the end of the third year. Sheep for Profit® farms lifted cash surplus from $174/ha to $257/ha (48%) compared to the national average of $181/ha to $219/ha (21%).

Sheep for Profit® was commercialised in 2005 and since then more than 250 farmers have been involved.

*In October 2010 Sheep for Profit® was rebranded to StockCARE®. The only thing that has changed is the name.

Bernard Matthews Sheep for Profit® Programme 

Average per ewe income increased by $13.30 after three years

Sheep for Profit® was given the opportunity to participate in one of the Tairawhiti Land Development Trust (TLDT) Major regional Initiative programme in conjunction with Bernard Matthews Ltd.

The programme involved 5 properties in the Gisborne/Wairoa region. It ran from July 2006 until September 2009.

The overall objective was to lift the sheep enterprise performance by $12 per ewe mated based on meat and wool prices during the 2005/2006 year.

Across the five properties, the average income derived from the sheep enterprises increased by $13.30 per ewe. This is worth an extra $111,700 in average sheep income per farm and equates to a 26% lift in production by the completion of the programme. The changes for the key performance drivers are summarised in the table.

 

Property
No. ewes mated
kg lamb sold per ewe
kg wool sold per ewe
05/06
08/09
(% change)
05/06
08/09
(% change)
05/06
08/09
(% change)*
Titirangi
4,300
4,029
(94%)
11.95
18.3
(153%)
5.6
6.0
(107%)
Pakihiroa
4,981
4,815
(97%)
5.90
11.1
(188%)
4.6
4.9
(106%)
Pakarae B5 P/S
23,310
21,139
(91%)
8.90
13.4
(151%)
7.3
7.0
(96%)
Kaitoto
2,461
2,173
(88%)
9.15
10.0
(110%)
6.0
5.9
(98%)
Hereheretau
7,001
6,704
(96%)
14.40
14.6#
(101%)
6.8
7.3
(107%)

*wool production was affected by the increased numbers of lambs sold earlier as unshorn stores

# 30% lambs sold store compared to all lambs sold prime in 05/06 year