The patterns of wool growth of Merino sheep grazing three Chenopod shrub rangelands.

Abstract

Annual fleece we~ghts and the seasonal varldtlon m uool growth of Peppm Merino wethers were measured for nearlv tlve years on three paddocks on the pastoral property 'Pme Creek' in the West Darlnlg distr~ct of Nea South Wales. The paddocks had the same stocking rate but encloyed different types of shrub rangelands - saltbush, pearl bluebush and degraded bluebush. Annual fleece weights varied between 4.0 and 5.3 kg (clean scoured) per sheep with no significant differences between the flocks in the different paddocks in any year. There were only small differences within years in the seasonal variations in wool growth for sheep from the three paddocks. Analysis of the relationships between ramfall and fleece weights during the experimental period and from 18 years of property records revealed that under the conservative stocking management regime of this property, wool cut per head \%as largely independent of the previous year's ramfali.