After grabbing our boxed(bagged) lunches it was on the bus and away heading south from El
Calafate. Taking in the last of the scenic Lake views, we paused on the side of the road to take in the valley where the Blake family had previously owned an Estancia. It appears that Mr Blake senior had a mind for taking on country with productive river flats.




They had gone to so much trouble to show us their fleeces and penned sheep for the boys and girls in the group to pore over. This was the first opportunity for the group to really get their hands on wool and appraise the breeding program. Into the woolshed where there was a line of ram fleeces from over the past three years, showing the wool improvement that Gregory is striving for.



A few of our group headed out to the slaughterhouse, which is owned by 40 lamb producers from around the district as a co-op. Slaughtering had finished at 3pm and the plant completely washed down before arrival, but there was still plenty to see. The killing floor was spotless, and the General Manager of the plant gave a demonstration of the line. Not much automation, but certainly a very modern plant that exports 90% of its product largely to SE Asia. In line with the short Patagonian summer, male lambs are trucked directly to the slaughterhouse from Estancias.
The lambs are not sorted prior to slaughter, with all weights going through the line. It is only at the end of the line that the carcase weight is assessed and then chilled/frozen by weight range. The killing sheet categorises each mob in 2kg weight increments, going down as far as a 4-6 kg carcase weight.




