Curriculum · Module 11
Sheep: Wool, Mutton and the Predation Problem
Sheep give an SA farmer two uncorrelated income streams and one uniquely SA constraint. This module settles the wool-versus-hair decision on trial data, builds a parasite protocol that starts with how low you graze, works the lambing window where survival and predation are the same decision, and prices a clip properly before asking whether the enterprise pays.
- 49 What Sheep Do to Veld, and Choosing a Breed Settles the ecological role of sheep and frames the wool, hair and dual-purpose choice as a risk-portfolio decision on SA trial data. Frame the wool-versus-hair choice as two income streams rather than one efficiency questionCompare SA breed performance on unsupplemented veld using published trial dataConvert your own flock into small stock units using class factors, not a head count 14 min
- 50 The Parasite Protocol and Sheep Scab Law Settles what a working SA sheep parasite protocol looks like, and the controlled-disease regime that binds any person who suspects scab. Build a summer-rainfall parasite protocol that starts with grazing residual rather than with a productState the sheep scab duties triggered by suspicion and by introduction of new animalsList the SA parasite questions that currently have no answer in the literature 14 min
- 51 Reproduction, Lambing and the Predation Window Settles how to manage lambing as the one lever acting on survival, mismothering and predation at the same time. Set a mating and lambing plan with condition score targets and a defined seasonAttack the starvation-mismothering-exposure complex with four named leversRecord predation and theft as a separate line from mortality in your own books 14 min
- 52 Wool Marketing, Certification and the Karoo Lamb GI Settles how a clip is valued and sold, what certification realistically earns, and what a working SA place-based premium looks like. Convert a greasy fleece into a gross rand figure and then into a net oneState what wool certification does and does not guarantee about priceDescribe a place-based premium that is legally defined and enforceable 14 min
- 53 The Sheep Enterprise: Margin, and the Risk That Comes from Another Species Settles whether a sheep enterprise pays on published SA figures, and why a cattle disease can close your wool market. Build a per-ewe and per-hectare margin from published SA figures and say which denominator answers which questionQuantify the export concentration risk sitting behind your wool chequeRe-run the five gates for a sheep enterprise on your own land 13 min