Above (left to right): Tim Leeming, Paradoo Prime, Nigel Kerin, Kerin Poll, Dr Mark Ferguson, neXtgen Agri and Dr Andrew Kennedy, Thrive Agri Services at the Sheepvention 2022 Towards 90 Innovation Stage.
The Sheepvention Rural Expo held in Hamilton from 31 July–2 August saw the launch of Meat and Livestock Australia (MLA)'s highly anticipated new sheep reproduction adoption program called Towards 90.
The Towards 90 program – or T90 for short – is all about sheep reproduction best practice and is an adoption program designed for sheep producers and industry advisors alike.
Dr Andrew Kennedy from Thrive Agri Services said they were excited to launch MLA's newest program at Sheepvention 2022.
"It's a program designed to help producers implement the best practices to achieve a lamb survival rate of more than 90 percent in single and twin-bearing ewes – an aspirational target that some of the industry top producers are achieving."
T90 Program partner, Dr Mark Ferguson from neXtgen Agri, said a highlight of the program was how it helps producers to identify where they are on their journey to achieving T90.
He also said the program provided producers and participants with the knowledge, skills and confidence to implement the key management practices that would result in incremental improvements in reproductive efficiency.
While the program is ultimately for sheep producers, the program provides the structure and materials for industry consultants and advisors to deliver T90 information to their existing client base.
A great part of the T90 program is the T90 Focus Farms. The focus farms are leading enterprises that open their doors for participants to come and see how these leading operations implement the T90 best practices on their farms.
The three focus farms are at Tim Leeming's in western Victoria, Nigel Kerin's in southern New South Wales and at Clayton South's in the wheatbelt region of Western Australia.
The T90 program consists of 10 standalone modules that cover the range in best practices, spanning the reproductive cycle of sheep.
The Towards 90 Program is designed to complement other industry leading programs.
"Producers really enjoy the experience of learning and working together on-farm, which is where the T90 Teams, T90 Exchanges and T90 Focus Farms will complement the science in the Towards 90 program.
"The beauty of T90 is that we are breaking up the program into modules where participants can focus on the critical elements of production and management that they wish to explore and improve on further," says Dr Mark Ferguson, neXtgen Agri.
MLA Program Manager – Sheep and Goat Productivity, Joe Gebbels, said the program is set to provide a range of benefits to industry.
"Towards 90 represents an excellent opportunity for sheep producers to learn about sheep reproduction best practice," Mr Gebbels said.
"MLA is committed to working with sheep producers and industry leaders to get lamb survival rates to 90% right around the country. It's for the benefit of producers, industry and the flock alike, to work towards these critical strategies."
Interested parties can learn more about the T90 Program, by visiting www.towards90.com.au and be sure to follow Towards90 on social media. We are still taking expressions of interest to become a participant or a trainer. Simply fill out the form on the contact page at the T90 website.
