How edible shelter like saltbush and crops could boost lamb survival rates
Could something as simple as lambing into saltbush shrubs or cereal crops boost lamb survival rates – and inject millions of dollars back into Australian agriculture?
About 30 per cent of lambs born die before marking, costing the national sheep industry more than $1 billion each year.
Almost half of those deaths are caused by starvation-mismothering-exposure (SME) complex – a mix of cold, hunger and vulnerability in a lamb’s first few days of life.