2008 Peter Olsen Fellowship Winner - Brook Seal
They’re definitely creating quite a stir in the region, but for Kimba farmer Brook Seal, his coat wearing sheep are more about upping the standard in wool quality than creating a fashion statement.
Brook, 24, has been trialling the coats in an aim to investigate whether they’re a feasible option to help boost wool quality.
He has been supported in his venture by the Agricultural Bureau of South Australia’s Peter Olsen Fellowship for Young Farmers, which he was awarded in October last year.
Brook has used the $7,000 fellowship to carry out his ‘sheep cover’ idea and help South Australia’s wool industry strive for greater standards.
“Currently I’ve got 370 coats on two to four year old ewes, 120 on ewe hoggets and nine rams,” he said.
“They fit similar to a dog coat. They go over the sheep’s head with two straps around the legs, then two straps that tighten up on the back that are loosened when the wool starts to grow.”
Already Brook has noticed huge benefits in the sheep covers.
“Surprisingly we’ve had no fly strike and I’ve definitely noticed a difference in wool quality. . . no dirt seems to have escaped underneath the coats,” he said.
“I suppose the real test will be when we shear in September, and find out whether they’re actually financially viable.”
Already attracting much interest from the community, Brook says he plans to hold a field day during September when shearing takes place.
“It should be a great day, I’ll demonstrate how the coats are fitted and share my findings on how the trails have gone so far,” he said.
The next test however will be crutching the covered sheep. Brook says this will be a much harder undertaking than usual as the shearers will have to be careful not to cut the straps between the legs.
“After crutching, the ewes will undergo pregnancy scans to see if having the coats on the ewes and rams had an impact or not,” he said.
“Then we have lambing to follow in six weeks time, so we’re very keen to see how the trial pans out.”
If that’s not enough, Brook says that he plans to undertake a study tour to New South Wales in March to April, where farmers have been using the coats successfully for years.
