Sheep Jetter saves money and time
29 January 2025
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By Aimee Johnston
Goulburn in New South Wales might be known for being the very first Inland City in Australia, but it’s famous for the wool industry that supported its growing population. In particular, it’s famous for Poll Merinos, with their soft wool that lends itself to easy processing and has an excellent fleece weight.
Aaron Granger runs the family farm in the Goulburn district. It dates back over 100 years and has been a Merino stud for the last three decades. The farm comprises 3 properties and is home to around 12,000 sheep, with a mixture of Poll Merino and cross-breed ewes. Looking after them and all that land with Aaron is his wife, his father Ron, and one casual employee.
Like most farms, costs have to be tightly controlled. Bringing in additional labour for specific farm tasks is expensive and can easily blow out the budget, which is why Aaron has sought out solutions like the Te Pari Sheep Jetter, which he has been using for a couple of years now. “A big part of why I bought the Jetter was labour costs” explains Aaron. “With the pour-on back liners, it’s very labour intensive and quite expensive.”
The Te Pari Jetter was designed to speed up the application of topical liquids, reduce the labour needed, and provide real cost advantages versus sheep dipping. Basically, it’s quicker and more cost-effective. It’s also effortless compared to dipping. “You know, it’s very easy and quick to move the sheep through when needed”, says Aaron. “As quick as the sheep can flow single file through the unit, that’s about as hard as the job is.”
Aaron’s right, of course. That’s because the Jetter has been designed to do the hard work for the farmer. The way it works is straightforward enough. As sheep move down the race, they activate sensors which trigger the jetting system. The spray valve achieves instant jetting, sending a continuous stream of the active liquid treatment to skin level, from the poll, over the shoulders and along the back line, over the rump and down around the crotch and pizzle area. “If the mob sizes are quite large and we have the sheep here to run through, we can do roughly 2000 sheep an hour”, says Aaron.
Like all things, behind the simplicity of what the Jetter does, sits a level of complexity. For example, the spray bars weren’t just placed inside the unit, they have been orientated specifically based on research from the NSW DPI Ag Research Unit. Then the nozzles have been made larger, so at lower pressures, there’s less spray drift to reduce pesticide exposure for the farmer. Even the tapered V frame has been carefully designed, with an adjustable size opening to better fit different animals and reduce the effect of tunnelling, while maintaining enough friction (or resistance) to keep the animal in the jetter long enough to get the treatment needed.
There’s a major emphasis on portability, too. The Jetter is lightweight and can be easily moved, with battery power allowing use in remote locations. But don’t think it’s not sturdy. Because it is and it’ll easily stand up to the elements. It’s constructed from stainless steel to make sure of that and there are no moving parts requiring maintenance.
All of the intricate design elements that make the Jetter so simple generally go unnoticed. That’s ok, because what the farmer is supposed to notice is more important. Namely, how much money can be saved by using it. “When I was deciding to buy the jetting unit, I worked out the cost of the pour-on back lines for fly control” explains Aaron. “I was basically able to save about AUD$16,000 in that first 12 months from the pour-on back lines versus the jetting fluid. So effectively the jetting unit paid for itself within 12 months. That pretty much made me go out and buy it straight away.”
Compared to dipping, the Jetter significantly reduces product costs as whatever application is being used is applied directly to where it’s needed. Jets on the top, side and bottom of the unit effectively cover the sheep with minimal wastage. So the farmer is getting the results he needs with less product.
Then there’s the labour savings mentioned previously. “The labour side of things has been a really big saver for me. We can comfortably get through jetting on our own without having to source many off-farm employees. That’s saved a lot versus the pour-ons, which can be quite labour-intensive and slow. That’s been a really big saver for us as well” offers Aaron.
So is Aaron happy and would he recommend the jetter?
“I’d recommend the Te Pari Jetter to anybody. It’s very easy to use and since we’ve had it, it’s saved me a lot of time. It’s just made the fly control season a lot more manageable from a cost perspective. With the rotations of chemicals, cheaper jetting fluids and those types of things, it’s certainly something that ends up paying for itself.”
That answers that then. Thanks, Aaron.
