Assessing lambs to ensure they hit spec
VIDEO: How best to assess lambs for slaughter
Hitting market specification can bring big benefits to sheep producers, but how can they ensure as many lambs as possible fulfil requirements? Aly Balsom investigates.
Producers should avoid chasing lamb weights and instead focus on meeting market specifications to create sustainable lamb production.
About 85% of market requirements are for E, U and R grades for conformation and 2 and 3L for fat class, yet just over half of all lambs slaughtered are meeting this requirement. This means one third of lambs aren’t meeting specification.
A lot of producers think heavier weights mean more in the pocket, but this is completely dependent on what the market wants, explained EBLEX’s national selection specialist, Steve Powdrill.
“Most of the market wants E, U, R, 2 and 3L grades, with only about 6% going to butchers at a heavier weight.”
Speaking at an EBLEX live to dead day at R B Elliott and Son’s abattoir, Stud Farm, Chesterfield, Mr Powdrill said taking lambs to a higher weight not only added unnecessary input costs at farm level, but also created an undesirable product for the consumer.
He stressed that there was a place for everything, but it was crucial that stock were bought and sold at the right price to the right market.
“The main thing is to finish lambs to their optimum, but not over-fat. Within most common breeds it is possible to achieve an ideal target of R3L.”
Mr Powdrill stressed the need for sheep producers not to just think of themselves as livestock producers, but as meat producers, so that they were focused on producing exactly what the market wanted.
As such, it was crucial farmers assessed lambs before they went to slaughter – not only to supply an ideal product, but also to limit unnecessary input costs from keeping an animal too long.
“Assessing a lamb’s level of conformation is vital to determine the correct time to sell and so maximise potential returns,” he said.
“Lambs should be sorted by handling once a fortnight as they approach market quality and every week for the final two or three weeks.”
“Weighing lambs is a second key management tool after handling. Regular weighing, along with handling, provides the route to better returns.”
Mr Powdrill recommends the following method of assessing a live lamb:
CONFORMATION
“The key is to imagine an animal as a live carcass when assessing for conformation and focus on the three main areas: the leg, loin and shoulder. Two out of three of these points make up the conformation – you cannot just look at the rear in isolation.”
The leg
• Visually assess how the fleece falls from behind
• Put hand on gigot
• The hind/legs are largely influenced by breed so if the loin is done, you won’t change the hind much
Loin
• Place thumb and fingers either side of spine and feel the spinous process and transverse process
• The transverse process are the chops – they should have a nice coverage, but still be detectable
• When a lamb is not finished the spine will be sharp and you will be able to feel the tips of the transverse process
• This is the most important part in conformation and fat assessment
• When this is finished, the animal needs to go
Shoulder
• Place hand flat over the shoulder
• On a poor lamb your hand will rock backwards and forwards
• On an over-conditioned lamb there will be no movement and on a finished lamb there will only be slight movement
FAT CLASS
Dock/tail
1. Individual bones very easy to detect
2. Individual bones easy to detect with light pressure
3. Moderate pressure to detect individual bones
4. Firm pressure to detect individual bones
5. Individual bones cannot be detected
Loin
1. Very easy to feel between processes which are very prominent
2. Prominent spinous and transverse processes felt easily
3. Tips of processes rounded. Individual bones felt as corrugations with light pressure
4. Spinous processes felt with moderate pressure. Transverse with firm pressure
5. Individual processes cannot be felt
Rib
1. Individual ribs feel very bare, prominent and easy to detect
2. Individual ribs show slight cover, but still easy to detect
3. Individual ribs have softer feel, with fat cover becoming more evident in between and over ribs, which are now less easy to detect
4. Individual ribs only detectable with firm pressure
5. Individual ribs undetectable, soft, rolling, spongy feel
Breast/brisket (generally used for conformation of higher fat class)
1. Skin tight with no lateral movement, very bare feel
2. Some lateral movement in skin, providing a slight pinch of fat
3. More pronounced movement in skin providing definite pinch of fat, softer feel
4. A ridge of fat evident, providing a positive and more pronounced pinch of fat – soft feel
5. The thick ridge of fat has become very pronounced, resulting in a thick pinch and soft, rolling feel
Key considerations when assessing fat
• The first area an animals puts fat on is around the dock
• When a lamb is over-fat, you will feel a crease down the back and to the top of the dock
• Females lay down fat quicker and entire males finish slower
Live to dead assessment results
As part of the EBLEX Live to Dead Day, 10 lambs from a randomly selected batch were assessed for conformation and fat prior to slaughter and these figures compared to the actual grading of carcasses post-slaughter.
Grading showed huge variation within a batch sent from the same farmer, with 40% grading over-fat. “Why put more fat on?” asked Mr Powdrill. “If a lamb could have gone one month ago, this is adding on about £14 a lamb extra cost in concentrate alone. You won’t get any more money and you aren’t doing the industry any good as the consumer doesn’t want fat.”
Sheep producer, David Bower, Hillcrest Farm, Treswell, said he was surprised at the variation in his assessment of live lambs and how they actually killed out.
“I though I could grade better than I can. I have always looked at the loin and dock when handling lambs, but I will now start looking more at the transverse processes.”
Mr Bower also said he would move away from the mindset that “weight is money”.
“I’m guilty of having a minimum weight to sell at – if a lamb was under 40kg I would never think about sending it to slaughter. Now I will start looking at lighter lambs.”
• Whether you’re a sheep or beef producer or an abattoir, getting involved in a EBLEX Live to Dead Day could be hugely beneficial to your business. Find out more by calling 0870 241 8528 or visiting www.eblex.org.uk/events/
• Find out what it’s costing you to finish lambs outside of specification