Weighing and EID technology drives efficiency on expansive King Country station

PioPio sheep and beef farmer Mat Sherriff is harnessing the power of weighing and EID technology to drive efficiency and productivity on his King Country station. It is also enabling him to make more informed decisions about animal health and proactively manage potential drench resistance.

Mat farms Rotomate Station, an expansive 1,150-hectare operation that has been in his wife’s family for over 80 years. The station supports 2,500 ewes, 650 lamb hoggets, 150 beef cows, and 600 Friesian bulls, which Mat finishes each year. The sheep flock is a Romney Kelso cross ewe, while the farm's beef cattle comprise Hereford-Friesian or Angus-Friesian crosses. They have two full time staff, Darren their Stock manager and Abbey their Shepard.

Mat’s detailed farm management system relies heavily on accurate weighing data to ensure optimal performance from every animal.

“You can’t manage what you don’t monitor, and with all this data at our fingertips, we can make informed decisions that drive productivity,” says Mat.

Rotomate Station buys in 100kg weaner bulls, with a third arriving in autumn and another third in spring. These bulls go through an 18-month system, with the goal to only winter them once. The bulls are finished at 550kg. Some bulls that stay through a second winter are finished at over 600kg. Mat also targets finishing his lambs at 18kg.

Central to Mat’s farm management is the Gallagher TWR-5 Weigh Scale & Reader and EID Antenna Panel and Animal Performance app, which he says has streamlined the weighing process, driving efficiency across the farm.

“It takes the guesswork out of weighing, leaving no room for error. We know how every animal in the mob is performing and can ensure they all reach optimal weights, which is critical to our bottom line,” says Mat.

“Previously, we used a manual system where we’d get a printout and then manually input the data into an Excel spreadsheet. Now, we just run the animals through the yards on the scales, scan each tag, and the job is done.”

The farm’s bulls and lambs are weighed monthly, providing Mat with the data needed to make well-informed decisions.

“We weigh our Friesian bulls every 28 days and lambs monthly during the fattening period,” Mat says. Regular weighing not only ensures optimal returns at processing but also aids in planning when livestock will be ready to leave the farm.

“Abbey our young shepherd who just runs the mobs through the yards. The system is cloud-based, meaning all the data is loaded to the cloud, and I can sync it to my phone, giving me access to every weighing session no matter where I am,” Mat adds.

The system has provided Mat with crucial insights into his operation. He believes it’s so simple that every farmer should be using it.

“We can see if animals are not growing fast enough and adjust our approach to help them catch up. It’s foolproof and provides the hard data needed to make decisions about when animals should come onto the farm, go off the farm, or if they need more time to reach their full potential,” he says.

Currently, Mat is investigating the use of EID tags on his sheep flock as he navigates suspected drench resistance. He was inspired by his experience at a recent Lambex conference in Australia, where farmers used EID tags to manage their flocks more precisely. EID tags are to become mandatory for the Australian sheep flock from January.

EID tags would allow Mat to track every sheep in his flock, enabling better breeding decisions to combat drench resistance.

“That will be our next step. By monitoring which ewes and lambs perform best, we can make informed breeding choices to breed out drench resistance,” says Mat.

In the meantime, they are conducting more tests to confirm the issue. While awaiting results, they are managing their flocks with regular weighing to reduce the need for drenching and are adjusting their pasture management to improve integration between sheep and beef.

“With regular weighing, we know if the lambs are growing well, and we can skip a drench,” says Mat. “Adding EID tags would give us even more precision and control over the issue, so it’s something we are seriously considering.”

Beef and sheep farmer, Mat Sherriff, tells us why investing in a TW Weigh Scale has made weighing and analysing data quicker than ever.