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Regulin ... for better profitability

How does Regulin … increase profitability?

Profitability vs. Turnover: Optimising your sheep enterprise

“Profitability” is a buzzword in the sheep industry these days. Farmers are constantly seeking ways to reduce input costs and maximize profits by selling when prices peak.

However, it’s worth revisiting an age-old adage: “Time is money.” Many producers overlook the opportunity cost of their own time until they have to hire additional labor. When your operation becomes more efficient, what would you do with the extra time? Would you focus on other priorities, spend more time with family, or enjoy hobbies like fishing or football? The choice is yours.

Saving money and time with Regulin

Besides increasing the number of lambs, Regulin can help you reduce various input costs, including feed, fuel, transport, and labor. Here’s how:

Regulin-treated ewes are more likely to conceive in the first or second cycle after joining. Since pregnancy lasts approximately 150 days, once they start most ewes will lamb down within three to four weeks, depending on your sheep and conditions. Jodie Green from Aloeburn Pastoral reports that their early-joined Regulin ewes consistently lamb within a four-week period, while their Autumn-joined ewes take between five and six weeks. Read more about Jodie and Andrew’s experience. <link>

 

Six benefits of a tighter (compressed) lambing

  1. Less time spent: checking ewes and paddocks during lambing.
  2. Efficient marking: Marking can be done in one lot as all lambs are roughly the same age, reducing handling and drafting time.
  3. Better feed management: Optimise the feed curve and save on supplementary feed if needed.
  4. Streamlined weaning: Lambs can all be weaned together.
  5. Uniform lamb quality: You’ll have more even lambs when it’s time to sell.
  6. Reduced transport costs: Fewer lifts mean savings on transport.

Other efficiencies

  • Culling dry ewes after scanning or moving them to the next joining saves feed costs on unproductive animals.
  • Getting more lambs from ewe lambs and maidens increases the lifetime value of each ewe. Check out Russ Davis’s ewe lamb presentation for more information.
  • Studs using Regulin to advance their joinings find their rams are a month or more older than their competitors’, allowing them to beat the market with earlier, ready-to-work rams. Learn more about Martin Harvey’s experience at Paxton Stud.

Regulin is not a silver bullet, but more than half of Regulin users in our 2023 customer survey reported that a tighter lambing significantly benefitted their business.

Meet two farmers who reckon Regulin increases profiability

Matt Reid
Rowallan Poll Dorset Stud (selling 350 rams per year) & 2,500 commercial ewes
Bendick Murrel NSW

Matt Reid’s farm ‘Hillview’ is the base for Rowallan Poll Dorset Stud in Bendick Murrel, NSW and has been in Matt’s family for four generations. Matt also runs 2,500 crossbred commercial ewes, and additionally does some cattle trading and winter cropping.

Matt has been using Regulin for more than 10 years, and considers it an integral part of his sheep enterprise, with consistent returns year on year.

“In certain mobs [lambing] could be 60% better, to be honest with you …  it’s huge and the dollar return is massive. [Regulin’s] an integral part of what we do here, and I can’t see that stopping.

Compressing joining and lambing to just a few weeks is a key benefit, with fewer truck lifts when it’s time to sell the lambs:

“Your lambing is tighter, so you can manage your weaning and marking around that and when it’s time to sell, you’ve got bigger cuts of lambs to sell in one go.”

But essentially, it’s all about being more productive and more profitable:

“You get more lambs on the ground. You get more ewes in lamb, you get less dries and more twins, and that’s what it’s all about."

Shane Baker
‘Booloola White Suffolks
Baringhup, VIC

 A few years ago, Shane Baker and his team decided their lambing percentages were not nearly as good as they would like. They had heard about Regulin through other users, and made enquiries to their local Landmark Store who put them in touch with the Regulin team. A tailored program was devised for the farm and they haven’t looked back.

They were marking about 107% at that time. Since using Regulin, the lambing percentages have risen to 187% (this year 2022).

Shane is a great believer that farmers need to make the best use of available technologies like Regulin and says:

If you don’t keep up with the times you get left behind and no-one wants to get left behind. And if you’re not using technology your profitability starts suffering as well. Farmers have got to be more switched on, it doesn’t just happen, you’ve got to make it happen.

For anyone looking to improve their percentages and tighten their lambing window, I think Regulin’s the product for them. It’s certainly had a huge impact on what we do here.

Find our more at: www.booloola.com.au

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