As many of us know, this time of year brings intensity that disrupts even the best-laid routines. Work, rest, and connection often slip. Not due to poor planning, but because the season leaves little room for anything else.

Combining her passion for nursing with her life in the shearing industry, Carol Mudford has created a unique path shaped by both care and community. Raised in a sheep and cropping family, she returned to the sheds during COVID, when a few weeks of wool handling turned into months - and eventually into shearing school and 18 months on the handpiece.

Sheep Producers Australia has welcomed the release of the Sheep Sustainability Framework) (the Framework) 2025 Annual Report, highlighting how the Framework’s insights will directly shape the development of The Future Flock - the industry’s new whole-of-sector initiative designed to support long-term resilience, alignment and investment.

Last month I had the opportunity to attend the World Meat Congress alongside industry leaders, policy makers and supply-chain experts from across the globe. It was a valuable opportunity to reconnect with global colleagues, including counterparts from Beef + Lamb New Zealand, to share insights and compare emerging challenges and opportunities across our sectors.

Louise O’Neill –  a rural wellness expert and West Australian sheep producer- shares insights each month with Sheep Producers Australia. Control is something we all value, and in farming there’s always something happening that’s out of our hands: the weather, fuel prices, markets, policies, or even what the neighbours are doing. It can feel overwhelming at times. That’s why I want to talk about a tool that can really help manage those stressful and overwhelming situations: th

The Global Sheep Forum (GSF) and International Meat Secretariat (IMS) will work together for a one-year trial period to collaborate on shared challenges and opportunities across the global sheep industry. Announced as part of the World Meat Congress in Brazil this week, the alignment will benefit the global sheep industry by strengthening collaboration, improving knowledge exchange, and aligning strategic priorities for the international sheep farming community. As part of th

Farmers, processors and relevant sector organisations from 14 nations have united to call for the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) to follow best scientific practice and take a split gas approach when reporting long-lived and short-lived greenhouse gas emissions (GHGs). A split gas approach is needed to more accurately reflect the contribution of the agricultural sector to climate change.

In the heart of Western Australia’s south west mixed-farming country, Rhodes Pastoral has taken a deliberate, long-term approach to building a resilient sheep enterprise. Farm Manager Michael Wright explains how the 15,378-hectare operation built feedlot, finishing pens, invested in on-farm water security, and focused on producing high-quality lamb. Genetics have underpinned this plan, with Rhodes Pastoral breeding its own Merino rams and operating a registered White Suffolk

Sheep Producers Australia attended the National Farmers’ Federation’s AgXchange 2025 on the Gold Coast, which brought together hundreds of producers, industry leaders, and policymakers to explore the future of Australian agriculture.

Sustainability isn’t just about carbon offsets, biodiversity credits or planting trees - those projects are important, but they’re not where it starts. 

For the first time, recently, teams of Merinos from across Australia were benchmarked side-by-side in a single commercial setting as part of the recent Australian Merino Production Trial 2025-2027.

A national effort to future-proof the Australian sheep industry and strengthen its sustainability will begin next year.