Relative financial performance of Merino bloodlines
The previous report highlighted significant variation in clean fleece weight, fibre diameter and liveweight between 59 Merino bloodlines evaluated in New South Wales wether trials.
This report details the financial performance of those bloodlines based on their relative performance by ranking each bloodline in terms of profit.
Genetics plays a key role in improving profitability of Merino enterprises as genetically superior sheep generate higher wool and meat value per unit of energy consumed.
For Merino enterprises the number of hectares is the limiting resource with production per hectare a key determinant of enterprise profit.
Method for comparing financial performance
Self-replacing Merino flocks typically use one of 3 options for the wether component of their sheep enterprise:
- Lamb finishing: finish wethers on a grazing crop for the lamb market.
- Young wethers: run wethers for approximately 15 months to shear with a full fleece and then sell into the mutton market.
- Mature wethers: run wethers and sell after shearing at 4 years of age.
The financial performance of a self-replacing Merino flock based on each bloodline for each of the 3 wether production enterprises was calculated using the GrassGro™ decision support tool.
GrassGro™ simulates an average farm and uses historical daily weather data to drive a pasture growth and animal production model, accounting for day-to-day changes in the water content of the soil, pasture growth and responses to grazing.
Each of the 59 bloodlines was simulated separately and run on the same farm for each production system.
- Tablelands for the young and mature wethers.
- Southwest slopes for the lamb finishing.
Each simulation had the same management, wool and sheep meat prices and costs using 30 years of actual weather data (1995 to 2024).
The wether performance for greasy fleece weight, yield, fibre diameter and liveweight for each bloodline was used to simulate a self-replacing ewe flock (with adult ewe greasy fleece weight and fibre diameter estimated as 0.91 and 0.96 of the adult wether greasy fleece weight and fibre diameter respectively.[1]
Ewe reproduction rate was increased by 2 lambs for a 1kg change in liveweight relative to the average of the 59 bloodlines (53.7 kg).
The stocking rate for each bloodline was adjusted to achieve a similar level of pasture utilisation across all bloodlines in each production enterprise.
The 30 years of annual financial results driven by the seasonal conditions each year were averaged to provide a robust measure of the performance of each bloodline across a range of seasonal conditions.
The following average Merino wool, lamb and mutton prices from the past two years (May 2023 to May 2025) were used calculate the financial performance of each bloodline.
Merino wool prices | Sheep meat prices | ||
|---|---|---|---|
Fibre diameter | Price | Merino lamb | Mutton |
16.5 | 1,846 | 660 | 322 |
17.0 | 1,734 | ||
18.0 | 1,556 | ||
19.0 | 1,435 | ||
20.0 | 1,361 | ||
Summary of results
Both the profit per hectare ($/ha) and profit per dry sheep equivalent (DSE, $/DSE) were calculated for each bloodline for each of the 3 wether production systems.
The relative financial performance of Merino bloodlines varies between self-replacing ewe flocks:
- where wether lambs are finished on a grazing crop, profit ($/ha) varied by $97/ha between the most and least profitable bloodlines,
- where wethers are sold at 15 months of age following their first shearing, the range in profit ($/ha) was $95/ha,
- where mature wethers are run at 30% of carrying capacity and sold following four annual shearings, the range in profit ($/ha) was $89/ha.
The ranking of the Merino bloodlines in terms of profit ($/ha) was generally consistent between the low and high price scenarios for wool and sheepmeat.
Relative financial performance
Highly profitable Merino enterprises typically have higher profit per hectare, this measure of profit ($/ha) is discussed further in this report.
The profit per dry sheep equivalent ($/DSE) for each bloodline is also shown below.
The profit per hectare ($/ha) for each production enterprise is shown in the table below as the deviation from the overall average.
To calculate the profit ($/ha) of a particular bloodline add the profit deviation for a particular bloodline to the overall average of each wether production enterprise.
Examples:
- Bloodline 57 has a profit of:
- $300/ha for a lamb finishing enterprise ($313 - $13)
- $128/ha for a yearling wether production enterprise. ($160 - $32)
- $152/ha for a mature wether production enterprise ($185 – $33).
- Bloodline 5 has a profit of:
- $329/ha for a lamb finishing enterprise ($313 + $16)
- $179/ha for a yearling wether production enterprise. ($160 + $19)
- $205/ha for a mature wether production enterprise ($185 + $19).
| Bloodline | Code | Lamb finishing ($/ha) | Yearling wethers ($/ha) | Mature wethers ($/ha) | Teams (No.) | Records (No.) | Accuracy |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alfoxton | 1 | -17 | -13 | -17 | 7 | 221 | H |
| AMM | 2 | -27 | -40 | -44 | 3 | 81 | H |
| Bobingah | 3 | -6 | -3 | -7 | 2 | 90 | M |
| Bogo | 4 | -18 | 3 | -3 | 21 | 628 | H |
| Bundilla | 5 | 16 | 19 | 19 | 4 | 109 | H |
| Bungoona | 6 | -13 | -11 | -20 | 2 | 37 | M |
| Bungulla | 7 | -10 | -8 | -2 | 6 | 176 | H |
| Cara | 8 | -29 | -53 | -40 | 3 | 90 | M |
| Centre Plus | 9 | 13 | 13 | 21 | 18 | 519 | H |
| Claremont | 10 | -9 | -15 | -17 | 3 | 91 | H |
| Corella | 11 | -11 | -18 | -19 | 2 | 51 | M |
| Cottage Park | 12 | 24 | 19 | 26 | 2 | 72 | M |
| Cressbrook | 13 | 1 | 17 | 15 | 14 | 444 | H |
| Darriwell | 14 | 15 | 14 | -1 | 5 | 144 | H |
| Deeargee | 15 | -21 | -7 | -14 | 2 | 75 | M |
| Egelabra | 16 | -8 | -16 | -21 | 14 | 459 | H |
| Emu Park | 17 | 2 | 4 | 14 | 2 | 59 | M |
| Fosterfield | 18 | 10 | 13 | 25 | 2 | 75 | M |
| Gaerloch | 19 | -29 | -24 | -31 | 2 | 61 | M |
| Glendemar | 20 | -33 | -25 | -22 | 3 | 89 | H |
| Grassy Creek | 21 | 22 | 33 | 37 | 5 | 160 | H |
| Grathlyn | 22 | -8 | -9 | -8 | 2 | 71 | M |
| Greendale | 23 | 18 | 20 | 9 | 14 | 462 | H |
| Greenland | 24 | 9 | 2 | -5 | 4 | 126 | H |
| Haddon Rig | 25 | -4 | -6 | -21 | 8 | 241 | H |
| Hazeldean | 26 | -1 | 14 | -6 | 15 | 444 | H |
| Karbullah | 27 | -30 | -22 | -34 | 2 | 57 | M |
| Karori | 28 | 5 | 7 | 1 | 6 | 189 | H |
| Koonwarra | 29 | -8 | -21 | -6 | 2 | 53 | M |
| Langdene | 30 | 11 | 14 | 21 | 3 | 81 | M |
| Leahcim Poll | 31 | -20 | -20 | -30 | 3 | 82 | H |
| Lemani | 32 | -27 | -33 | -30 | 2 | 60 | M |
| Longford | 33 | 15 | 20 | 34 | 3 | 86 | M |
| Lorelmo | 34 | 9 | 32 | 40 | 3 | 87 | M |
| Maisters Swamp | 35 | 21 | 4 | 36 | 2 | 59 | M |
| Merryville | 36 | -8 | -7 | -4 | 7 | 210 | H |
| Miramoona | 37 | 5 | 9 | 9 | 2 | 59 | M |
| Mirani | 38 | 33 | 42 | 31 | 2 | 60 | M |
| Nerstane | 39 | 13 | 13 | 20 | 16 | 467 | H |
| One Oak | 40 | 8 | 7 | 13 | 4 | 111 | H |
| Overland | 41 | 40 | 33 | 34 | 3 | 74 | M |
| Pastora | 42 | 26 | 27 | 38 | 35 | 1015 | H |
| Pooginook | 43 | 15 | 2 | 4 | 14 | 384 | H |
| Rockdale | 44 | 4 | 0 | -1 | 3 | 81 | M |
| Roseville Park | 45 | 12 | -9 | 24 | 8 | 240 | H |
| Shalimar Park | 46 | 12 | 29 | 25 | 6 | 177 | H |
| Springvale | 47 | -13 | -25 | -22 | 2 | 67 | M |
| Stanley Vale | 48 | -57 | -49 | -49 | 3 | 90 | M |
| Tallawong | 49 | 23 | 28 | 21 | 12 | 374 | H |
| Wallaloo Park | 50 | -21 | -27 | -28 | 4 | 118 | H |
| Wantana | 51 | 3 | -8 | -15 | 3 | 73 | M |
| West Vale | 52 | -11 | -10 | -14 | 4 | 133 | H |
| Willandra | 53 | 13 | 14 | 2 | 3 | 79 | H |
| Winyar | 54 | 7 | 2 | 5 | 3 | 91 | H |
| Woodpark Poll | 55 | -1 | -2 | 6 | 8 | 227 | H |
| Woolaroo | 56 | 11 | 19 | 19 | 10 | 292 | H |
| Wyuna | 57 | -13 | -32 | -33 | 2 | 72 | M |
| Yalgoo | 58 | 22 | 32 | 23 | 16 | 469 | H |
| Yarrawonga | 59 | 13 | 4 | 6 | 11 | 324 | H |
| Averages |
| $313 /ha | $160 /ha | $185 /ha |
|
|
|
The relative financial performance (profit, $/DSE) of 59 Merino bloodlines for a lamb finishing, yearling wether and mature wether enterprise.
To calculate the profit ($/DSE) of a particular bloodline add the profit deviation for a particular bloodline to the overall average of each wether production enterprise.
Examples:
- Bloodline 57 has a profit of:
- $23.04/DSE for a lamb finishing enterprise ($23.86 - $0.82)
- $9.91/DSE for a yearling wether production enterprise. ($12.20 - $2.29)
- $13.59/DSE for a mature wether production enterprise. ($16.37 – $2.78).
- Bloodline 5 has a profit of:
- $24.82/DSE for a lamb finishing enterprise ($23.86 + $0.96)
- $13.40/DSE for a yearling wether production enterprise ($12.20 + $1.20)
- $17.84/DSE for a mature wether production enterprise ($16.37 + $1.47).
| Bloodline | Code | Lamb finishing ($/DSE) | Yearling wethers ($/DSE) | Mature wethers ($/DSE) | Teams (No.) | Records (No.) | Accuracy |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alfoxton | 1 | -0.99 | -0.80 | -1.23 | 7 | 221 | H |
| AMM | 2 | -2.29 | -3.21 | -4.00 | 3 | 81 | H |
| Bobingah | 3 | 0.12 | 0.22 | -0.14 | 2 | 90 | M |
| Bogo | 4 | -0.97 | 0.23 | -0.27 | 21 | 628 | H |
| Bundilla | 5 | 0.96 | 1.20 | 1.47 | 4 | 109 | H |
| Bungoona | 6 | -1.01 | -0.89 | -1.75 | 2 | 37 | M |
| Bungulla | 7 | -0.86 | -0.66 | -0.23 | 6 | 176 | H |
| Cara | 8 | -2.05 | -3.88 | -3.41 | 3 | 90 | M |
| Centre Plus | 9 | 0.66 | 0.81 | 1.59 | 18 | 519 | H |
| Claremont | 10 | -0.72 | -1.20 | -1.53 | 3 | 91 | H |
| Corella | 11 | -0.89 | -1.22 | -1.57 | 2 | 51 | M |
| Cottage Park | 12 | 1.29 | 1.21 | 1.90 | 2 | 72 | M |
| Cressbrook | 13 | 0.19 | 1.29 | 1.30 | 14 | 444 | H |
| Darriwell | 14 | 1.06 | 1.00 | -0.11 | 5 | 144 | H |
| Deeargee | 15 | -0.94 | -0.16 | -0.84 | 2 | 75 | M |
| Egelabra | 16 | -0.69 | -1.25 | -1.87 | 14 | 459 | H |
| Emu Park | 17 | 0.14 | 0.28 | 1.17 | 2 | 59 | M |
| Fosterfield | 18 | 0.71 | 1.01 | 2.10 | 2 | 75 | M |
| Gaerloch | 19 | -1.55 | -1.46 | -2.37 | 2 | 61 | M |
| Glendemar | 20 | -2.21 | -1.98 | -2.09 | 3 | 89 | H |
| Grassy Creek | 21 | 1.57 | 2.32 | 3.11 | 5 | 160 | H |
| Grathlyn | 22 | -0.27 | -0.14 | -0.41 | 2 | 71 | M |
| Greendale | 23 | 1.38 | 1.64 | 0.89 | 14 | 462 | H |
| Greenland | 24 | 0.57 | 0.22 | -0.49 | 4 | 126 | H |
| Haddon Rig | 25 | -0.33 | -0.58 | -1.83 | 8 | 241 | H |
| Hazeldean | 26 | 0.34 | 1.13 | -0.28 | 15 | 444 | H |
| Karbullah | 27 | -1.91 | -1.63 | -2.80 | 2 | 57 | M |
| Karori | 28 | 0.57 | 0.75 | 0.26 | 6 | 189 | H |
| Koonwarra | 29 | -1.02 | -1.82 | -0.88 | 2 | 53 | M |
| Langdene | 30 | 0.37 | 0.78 | 1.45 | 3 | 81 | M |
| Leahcim Poll | 31 | -1.27 | -1.49 | -2.50 | 3 | 82 | H |
| Lemani | 32 | -1.78 | -2.35 | -2.50 | 2 | 60 | M |
| Longford | 33 | 0.65 | 1.20 | 2.51 | 3 | 86 | M |
| Lorelmo | 34 | 1.11 | 2.52 | 3.78 | 3 | 87 | M |
| Maisters Swamp | 35 | 0.99 | 0.08 | 2.67 | 2 | 59 | M |
| Merryville | 36 | -0.33 | -0.29 | -0.15 | 7 | 210 | H |
| Miramoona | 37 | 0.29 | 0.45 | 0.71 | 2 | 59 | M |
| Mirani | 38 | 2.78 | 3.52 | 3.01 | 2 | 60 | M |
| Nerstane | 39 | 0.54 | 0.79 | 1.43 | 16 | 467 | H |
| One Oak | 40 | 0.46 | 0.40 | 0.99 | 4 | 111 | H |
| Overland | 41 | 2.35 | 2.09 | 2.51 | 3 | 74 | M |
| Pastora | 42 | 1.34 | 1.68 | 2.82 | 35 | 1015 | H |
| Pooginook | 43 | 0.56 | -0.17 | -0.03 | 14 | 384 | H |
| Rockdale | 44 | -0.26 | -0.31 | -0.42 | 3 | 81 | M |
| Roseville Park | 45 | 0.30 | -0.90 | 1.62 | 8 | 240 | H |
| Shalimar Park | 46 | 1.06 | 2.24 | 2.25 | 6 | 177 | H |
| Springvale | 47 | -0.75 | -1.63 | -1.73 | 2 | 67 | M |
| Stanley Vale | 48 | -3.63 | -3.40 | -4.13 | 3 | 90 | M |
| Tallawong | 49 | 1.96 | 2.39 | 2.06 | 12 | 374 | H |
| Wallaloo Park | 50 | -1.39 | -1.90 | -2.34 | 4 | 118 | H |
| Wantana | 51 | 0.35 | -0.50 | -1.23 | 3 | 73 | M |
| West Vale | 52 | -0.51 | -0.44 | -0.96 | 4 | 133 | H |
| Willandra | 53 | 0.80 | 0.89 | 0.08 | 3 | 79 | H |
| Winyar | 54 | 0.32 | 0.02 | 0.29 | 3 | 91 | H |
| Woodpark Poll | 55 | -0.25 | -0.31 | 0.36 | 8 | 227 | H |
| Woolaroo | 56 | 0.83 | 1.43 | 1.62 | 10 | 292 | H |
| Wyuna | 57 | -0.82 | -2.29 | -2.78 | 2 | 72 | M |
| Yalgoo | 58 | 2.02 | 2.67 | 2.29 | 16 | 469 | H |
| Yarrawonga | 59 | 1.05 | 0.44 | 0.64 | 11 | 324 | H |
| Averages |
| $23.86 /DSE | $12.20 /DSE | $16.37 /DSE |
|
|
|
| Table heading | Key |
|---|---|
| Bloodline | The bloodline nominated by the entrant of each team in the individual wether trials. |
| Code | Number used to locate a bloodline in the figures included in the report. |
| Lamb finishing ($/ha) |
|
| Young wethers ($/ha) |
|
| Mature wethers ($/ha) |
|
| Teams (No.) | The number of wether teams representing each bloodline in the analysis. Bloodlines can be represented by teams from the ram breeding flock itself and/or by clients’ teams. |
| Records (No.) | The number of records for each bloodline in the analysis. This includes repeated evaluation of the same sheep. |
| Accuracy | The accuracy of each bloodline is based on the standard error for CFW. The standard error describes how well the data used to calculate the deviations for each bloodline represent the bloodline performance in individual wether trials and is based on the number of teams per bloodline and wethers per team. Only bloodlines with a standard error of less than 3% for CFW are reported. This ensures the reliability of the relative performance of each bloodline. H = High accuracy where the standard error for CFW is less than 2%. M = Medium accuracy where the standard error for CFW is between 2% and 3%. Making decisions on alternative bloodlines of MODERATE accuracy will involve a slightly higher risk than those of HIGH accuracy. |
Lamb finishing enterprise
There was a range of $97.00/ha in profit between the 59 Merino bloodlines for the lamb finishing enterprise. The most profitable bloodline returned $353/ha and the least profitable $256/ha.
Bloodlines located in the top half of the graph had the highest profit ($/ha).
There was no significant relationship between profit ($/ha) and fibre diameter for the lamb finishing enterprise (R2 = 0.02).
R2 is an indicator of how well a regression model explains variability in the data. Values range from 0 to 1 with a higher R2 suggesting a better fit.
Image
The graphs below show there was a general trend for profit ($/ha) to increase with increases in both clean fleece weight (left) and liveweight (right) for the lamb finishing enterprise. However these relationships were both statistically weak (R2 = 0.19 for clean fleece weight and R2 = 0.17 for liveweight).
Young wether enterprise
There was a range of $95.00/ha in profit between the 59 Merino bloodlines for the young wether enterprise. The most profitable bloodline returned $202/ha and the least profitable $107/ha.
Bloodlines located in the top half of the chart had the highest profit/ha.
There was a weak (R2 = 0.13) relationship between profit ($/ha) and fibre diameter for the young wether enterprise with profit tending to increase as fibre diameter decreased.
Image
The graphs below show there was no significant relationship between profit ($/ha) and clean fleece weight (image on left, R2 = 0.06) for the young wether production enterprise. However, there was a weak (R2 = 0.12) relationship with liveweight (right) with profit tending to increase as liveweight increased.
Mature wether enterprise
There was a range of $89.00/ha in profit between the 59 Merino bloodlines for the mature wether enterprise. The most profitable bloodline returned $225/ha and the least profitable $136/ha.
Bloodlines located in the top half of the graph had the highest profit/ha.
There was a weak (R2 = 0.14) relationship between profit ($/ha) and fibre diameter for the mature wether enterprise with profit ($/ha) tending to increase as fibre diameter decreased.
The graphs below show there was no significant relationship between profit ($/ha) and clean fleece weight (image on left, R2 = 0.06) for the mature wether production enterprise. However, there was a weak (R2 = 0.14) relationship with liveweight (right) with profit tending to increase as liveweight increased.
Sensitivity of enterprise profit to changes in wool and sheepmeat prices
The wool and sheep meat prices used in this report (shown above) were the averages of prices for the past 2 years (May 2023 to May 2025) which were relatively low in comparison to previous years.
To quantify the sensitivity of the self-replacing ewe flock profit to changes in wool and sheepmeat prices, the financial performance of selected bloodlines for each of the 3 wether production enterprises (the top 5, middle 5 and bottom 5 based on $/DSE) was calculated using a high price scenario based on the average of the past 4 years (January 2021 to May 2025).
Wool - average of last 4.5 years (January 2021 to May 2025)
Merino wool prices | Sheep meat prices | ||
|---|---|---|---|
Fibre diameter | Price | Merino Lamb | Mutton |
| 16.5 | 2,251 | 700 | 448 |
| 17 | 2,089 | ||
| 18 | 1,790 | ||
| 19 | 1,517 | ||
| 20 | 1,391 | ||
The average profit ($/ha) for the 3 groups of selected bloodlines was calculated under the historically low and high price scenarios for each of the 3 wether production enterprises.
The largest difference in profit between the high and low prices occurred for the yearling wether enterprise and the smallest for the mature wether enterprise.
| Bloodline ranking | Difference in profit between high and low prices ($/ha) | ||
|---|---|---|---|
Lamb finishing | Yearling wether | Mature wether | |
| Most profitable | 155 | 173 | 47 |
| Average | 126 | 135 | 19 |
| Least profitable | 124 | 127 | 25 |
Importantly, the ranking of the bloodlines was reasonably consistent for both price scenarios. The biggest change between the 2 price scenarios was the increase in the finer end of the wool market.
The bloodlines which improved their ranking were the ones with finer fibre diameter, driven by the wool price changes. The changes to meat prices did not alter the rankings.
Relative contribution of wool and sheep meat to enterprise profit
For self-replacing ewe flocks with a lamb finishing wether enterprise returns from the sale of wool made the greatest contribution to profit for the most profitable (Top 5) bloodlines followed by the sale of young sheep. However, for the least profitable (Bottom 5) bloodlines returns from the sale of young sheep made the greatest contribution to profit followed by wool returns.
For self-replacing ewes flocks running either yearling or mature wethers, wool was the major contributor to profit followed by the sale of young sheep. This was consistent regardless of the level of wool prices or profitability of the bloodlines.
Wether production enterprise | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Lamb finishing | Yearling wether | Mature wether | |||||
High prices | Low prices | High prices | Low prices | High prices | Low prices | ||
| Top 5 bloodlines | Wool | 0.49 | 0.51 | 0.59 | 0.61 | 0.64 | 0.61 |
| Young sheep | 0.42 | 0.41 | 0.31 | 0.31 | 0.18 | 0.24 | |
| Cast for age | 0.09 | 0.08 | 0.10 | 0.09 | 0.18 | 0.15 | |
| Bottom 5 bloodlines | Wool | 0.40 | 0.44 | 0.51 | 0.55 | 0.57 | 0.56 |
| Young sheep | 0.51 | 0.48 | 0.37 | 0.35 | 0.22 | 0.22 | |
| Cast for age | 0.10 | 0.08 | 0.11 | 0.10 | 0.21 | 0.21 | |
Things to consider when using this information
The relative financial performance of Merino bloodlines in this report provides an objective evaluation of the profit per hectare between bloodlines. It is important to recognise that:
- bloodlines with reproductive performance above industry levels have not had this accounted for in the analysis.
- the variation in marking percentages across the bloodlines was 12%, in line with the liveweight data. Each bloodline was managed to the same condition score at joining and experienced the same weather at lambing time. This removes most of the variation in reproductive performance that is seen in the industry.
Read the following report on:
Using these comparisons to benchmark the genetic performance of a flock.
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