Livestock Event 2016: Service matches ewe lamb breeders with buyers

Sheep breeding company Innovis has launched a service to help better match ewe lamb breeders with buyers.

As part of the offering registered farmers breeding cross-bred, replacement lambs will be able to get a farm fact file created by Innovis for £50.

This will detail their flock health plan – including vaccination protocols – and their breeding programme.

The fact file will be made available on the Innovis website and sent out to prospective buyers upon request.

Launching the tool at the Livestock Event, at the NEC, Birmingham, on Wednesday (6 July), Innovis CEO Dewi Jones said he hoped the service would help connect buyers with breeders, develop stronger working partnerships and facilitate more on-farm purchases.

See also: Composite sheep breeds prove profitable alternative to old favourites

“Producers will save time and effort traditionally required to prepare these ewe lambs for auction mart and they will reduce disease risk from unsold animals coming back from the auction yard.

“For buyers, the venture is offering them the opportunity to improve their flock’s productivity by finding the right quantity of replacement ewes to source direct off farm, from a single flock with proven genetics and a known health profile.

“These animals will be purchased in their working clothes directly from the producer and they will be joining a partnership based on trust, where feedback is welcome.”

What you can expect to pay

Mr Jones said buyers should expect to pay a premium of 50p above the SQQ.

“Ultimately it will be the ewe lamb producer who will dictate what they charge, but we recommend taking the average SQQ price at market for the last month and adding a premium of 50p/kg, normally.”

Mr Jones says this is usually equivalent to an overall premium of £15-£20 a head.

He said aligning the price to fat lamb sales the rather than following trends of ewe sales was more objective as it directly correlated to what buyers had received for their lamb that year, unlike the ewe trade which can be variable.

He added that it also removed the haggle factor on farm because each party is aware of the price beforehand.

Farmplan software

Farmplan offers a range of livestock equipment enabling you to read cattle tags out on farm as well as check and update animal details. Find out more.