Albany ‘lamb factory’ venture Green Range Lamb takes out WAMMCO award with UltraWhite breed

Innovative producer group Green Range Lamb, based on the South Coast at Cheynes Beach east of the Albany townsite, has won WA Meat Marketing Co-operatives’ producer of the month title for June.

This new “lamb factory” venture was designed and is owned by boyhood school friends Col Bowey and Ash Baldwin from Kulin and Jerramungup, respectively, and is based exclusively on UltraWhite genetics from Greta and Dawson Bradford’s Hillcroft stud at Cuballing.

The Green Range Lamb partners supplied a large line of 401 UltraWhite lambs that was processed at WAMMCO’s Katanning abattoir on June 7 to average 22.38kg/ head, for a WAMMCO “sweet spot” of 96.76 per cent.

The partners had agreed several years ago that there was a major opportunity to completely change their way of farming to one based on a combination of high-performing lamb genetics and “new age” self-generating pastures and nutrition.

Valuable recent years spent by Mr Bowey as a wide-ranging consultant on nutrition and regenerative pastures and by Mr Baldwin as a hands-on rural contractor added to their confidence in the project.

When a suitable 900ha coastal property came up for sale early in 2020, they worked with a Swiss investment partner to secure the property on a nine-year lease-back with first option to purchase .

The partners were keen early followers of Mr Bradford’s evolving UltraWhite stud, and had agreed that being able to produce extra numbers of fine quality lambs without having to worry about shearing and mulesing was the way of the future.

They also saw early in their careers that it would be extremely difficult to achieve equity and growth in farming without adequate numbers of suitable quality livestock in the business equation.

Nearly three years on, their UltraWhite flock stands at 5000 ewes — serviced with rams from a nucleus flock of 50 stud composite UltraWhite ewes.

Such dramatic growth and intensity has been aided by innovations like early mating of maiden ewes and year-round mating of the ewes.

The breeding has produced high lambing rates — currently at up to two lambs per ewe per year and uniformity in make, shape and size.

“Most of our ewe lambs have had a lamb before their first birthday in a system that runs like clockwork,” Mr Baldwin said.

“These latest results have raised the expectation that we will reach a new critical mass of 7 to 8000 UltraWhite ewes by 2024.

“We are no where near our upper limits and the opportunities continue to surprise us not only on the lamb front, but in the way our soils and pastures are visibly improving each day.

“There is nothing on the lamb market to compare with the UltraWhite and the butchers now recognise it immediately.”

Mr Bowey said food buffs at a recent regional food tasting were still asking how he had produced pork-like crackle from a barbecue featuring UltraWhite lamb fat.

The partners said their Cheynes Beach property originally posed a special problem in that much of it was covered by cap rock that had to be removed with a locally designed and built Reefinator machine before development could begin.

Once the rock was gone, development of the copious supply of fresh near-surface water could begin, along with the planting of specially selected pasture species.

Land was sub-divided into 30ha blocks and 1 to 2ha finisher pens with shade and shelter and a pasture system set to achieve a 500 gram daily weight gain for each lamb under “power on” nutrition.

Mr Bowey and Mr Baldwin have taken the opportunity to invite members of the public to share their joint quest for higher quality farm products and for more enlightened programs to improve the farming environment.

They have signed Green Range Lambs to membership of WAMMCO’s Farm Assured Program that promotes premium grass-fed and pasture-raised lamb into North America and are also supplying a growing local market with their UltraWhite special lamb product.

“There is rapidly growing community interest in what we and other producers are achieving, and how our lamb products are setting new standards such as taste and the new values being attached to Omega 3 and other fat types,” Mr Bowey said.