The October results of the Meat & Livestock Australia and Australian Wool Innovation Wool and Sheepmeat Survey found 42 per cent of sheep producers are looking to increase the size of their ewe flock in the next 12 months.
The survey, which is run three times a year, had 1678 participants across 2495 different properties and found 44 per cent of producers who are looking to increase their ewe flock plan on retaining more older ewes.
The survey estimates there are 40.7 million breeding ewes in Australia, with 10.3 million (75 per cent) of these being Merinos.
It also estimates that as of October 2020, there were 25.9 million lambs on hand, with purebred Merino lambs accounting for 56 per cent of these at 14.5 million.
An increase in wool production is also tipped, with a recent meeting by the Australian Wool Production Forecasting Committee predicting Australia’s wool production for the 2020-21 financial year will total 287 million greasy kilograms, up 1.1 per cent on the 2019-20 financial year thanks to improved seasonal conditions.
The AWPFC also predicts that only 64.8 million sheep will be shorn in 2020-21, a 5.5 per cent decline on 2019-20 numbers.
However, it is predicted that wool shorn per animal will increase this financial year to 4.43 kg/head, up 7.3 per cent on 2019-20 levels.
Over in the saleyards it's predicted that more than 10 million lambs will be sold by February 28, 2021, with 30 per cent pure meat sales, a quarter first-cross sales and 24 per cent Merino sales.
For the complete list of survey results, visit: mla.com.au
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