IN WHAT'S been called a new era for Merino producers, livestock co-ordinator Clint McInnes of the Manildra Meat Company (MMC) said the breed had made ground in the past decade in processing facilities.
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The southern NSW Cootamundra works, now owned and operated by MMC, has the capacity to process up to 4000 lambs daily.
The kill is made up of lambs for Woolworths and light and heavy export lambs, half of which were normally Merino.
"In recent years producers saw the opportunity for their wether lambs at 10 to 11 months-old, that were a decent weight, to be sold over-the-hooks," he said.
"And they can now gain information from us about how they're dressing and can take that in to account when making decisions like ram selection and nutrition, whereas when they're selling them through the saleyards they aren't able to get that type of feedback."
During his time in the livestock game, Mr McInnes said the difference between crossbred and Merino carcases had "changed significantly".
Visually, they can be difficult to tell apart but the length of the shank was the main giveaway.