Sheep

The key products of the Western Australian sheep industry are wool, sheepmeat (lamb and mutton) and live sheep. At around 12.4 million sheep, the WA flock turns off between 4.5 and 6 million sheep and lambs for meat and live export as well as 65 million kilograms of greasy wool (primarily for export markets) annually.

The Merino is the most common breed of sheep in WA, making up 80% of the state's flock. The remainder are ‘British breeds’ or so-called maternal breeds, meat specific breeds such as Dorpers and some breeds for specialty meat and fibre markets.

The Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development's current focus is on increasing lamb supply, improving the productivity, welfare and sustainability of sheep production and developing and extending targeted information products and services to generate practice change. In an effort to increase the marking rate of lambs, the department, in collaboration with industry, has developed the More Sheep initiative.

Articles

State Barrier Fence overview

16 January 2014

The Biosecurity and Agriculture Management Act 2007 (BAM Act) provides the authority for regulations to be made for the erection and maintenance of barrier fences as a means of controlling
Property of origin statements for Western Australia

26 June 2016

A key component of live animal exports is the health certification that demonstrates to the importing country that the livestock meet market requirements.
Bluetongue virus

8 July 2014

Bluetongue virus can infect all ruminants but it usually only causes serious disease in sheep. Cattle may be infected with the virus but rarely show disease.
State Barrier Fence R4R projects

11 December 2013

Big improvements in wild dog management and agricultural pest animal control resulted from funding through the WA Government's Royalties for Regions program.
Managing blue-green algae on farms in Western Australia

2 December 2014

Blue-green algae are a group of algae including Nodularia spumigena, Microcystis aeruginosa and Anabaena circinalis.
SMS livestock surveillance networks

17 September 2018

Cattle producers in the shires of Albany, Denmark and Plantagenet in Western Australia and sheep producers in the shires of Esperance and Ravensthorpe are invited to participate in local surveillan
Sampling and post-mortem resources for veterinarians

9 March 2015

The following resources have been produced by the Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development (DPIRD) to assist veterinarians in selecting and preparing samples and conducting livesto
Cobalt deficiency in sheep and cattle

22 July 2014

All ruminants (including sheep, cattle and goats) require cobalt in their diet for the synthesis of vitamin B12.
National Transmissible Spongiform Encephalopathies Surveillance Program (NTSESP)

28 November 2013

The National TSE Surveillance Program (NTSESP) conducts surveillance for bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE or mad cow disease) in cattle and scrapie in sheep.
The National Arbovirus Monitoring Program (NAMP)

4 December 2013

The National Arbovirus Monitoring Program (NAMP) monitors the distribution of economically important insect-borne viruses of livestock and their vectors.