Chair's Review - Dr John Keniry: Welcome to the fourth Annual Report of the Sheep CRC. Compared with earlier years of the Sheep CRC, fiscal 2011 has seen a generally favourable economic environment and outlook for the Australian sheep industry. The long term decline in Australian Merino sheep numbers, and the associated decline in wool supply, was reflected in improved market prices for wool in fiscal 2011. The Eastern Market Indicator closed the year at 1409 cents per kilogram clean, compared with 898 cents per kilogram clean at the same time in fiscal 2010. Improved wool prices, together with a continuation of buoyant lamb and mutton markets, and a return to more normal seasonal conditions throughout Australia, have seen renewed confidence among sheep producers.
Chair's Review - Dr John Keniry: This is the third annual report of the Sheep CRC. Our work in the past year has been carried against a background of continued decline in sheep numbers as producers switch to cropping and others reduce their flock numbers in pursuit of buoyant prices for both lamb and mutton. Over the past six months many parts of Australia have experienced above-average rainfall, which has greatly increased producer confidence in their farming and pastoral businesses. It is to be hoped that improved seasonal conditions, together with continued buoyant prices, will encourage some re-building of the national ewe flock in order to meet market demand going forward.
Chair's Review - Dr John Keniry: Welcome to the 2nd Annual Report of the Sheep CRC. Our mandate is to "transform wool, meat and the sheep that produce them". Our research activities are conducted under four programs which cover sheep production, wool, meat and of course our core genetics program, that is centred around the Information Nucleus flocks. As we progressed through our second year of operation, it was particularly pleasing to see our management team bedded down, and our research programs as well as our Education Program develop some significant momentum. As described in detail with the body of the report, we believe we are making very good progress in all of our programs, and against our Commonwealth milestones.
Chair's Review - Dr John Keniry: Welcome to the first Annual Report of Sheep CRC Ltd (CRC for Sheep Industry Innovation), better known simply as “the Sheep CRC". The CRC got underway with effect from 1 July 2007 with a very clear mandate to undertake research, extension and training that would "transform wool, meat and the sheep that produce them". We followed on from the firm foundations established by our predecessor, The Australian Sheep Industry CRC, referred to in this report as CRC1. An important part of our first year's activity was to complete the unfinished work of CRC1 and to incorporate the further development and commercialisation activities of some of its research programs into those of the new CRC.
