High-index tups pay off
PRIME LAMBS sired by high-index tups finished up to 21 days earlier than lambs by unrecorded rams – worth up to 3 extra per lamb.
A trial on eight northern farms, aimed at improving ways of passing more information back to lamb finishers and improving feedback between producers and processors, involved a team of 13 Texel, Suffolk and Charollais rams.
All had trait EBVs and/or lean indexes in the top 10% of their breed, indicating high genetic merit for growth, muscling and leanness.
Alison Nicol of MLC”s Signet Breeding Services, which has been collating data from the trial, says high-index tups consistently out-performed sires selected without genetic worth information.
“The financial advantage of this is significant and ranges from an estimated 80p to more than 3 a lamb on the farms involved in the trial. The average was about £2 a lamb.”
MLC believes producers experience difficulties over the type and style of feedback received from abattoirs on lamb carcass quality. “It”s often impossible to identify lamb results individually. The information from the kill sheet is usually provided as a paper copy, which limits the options for data interpretation.
“We”ve provided feedback on trial lambs on a spreadsheet which enabled greater interpretation. All trial participants have said they would like carcass data provided in this format in the future.”
But the trial, which is part of a collaborative carcass feedback information project involving DEFRA, Rose County Foods, J Sainsbury, CST Ram Marketing Group and MLC, suggests producers can also benefit by comparing data between each other.
“Comparing farm and abattoir data with other trial farms has already proved to be of great value. We hope to encourage abattoir reports to incorporate this information in kill sheets in the second year of the trial,” she says.
Next year will see trial farms undertake gross margin analysis to assess whether lambs by high-index tups cost more or less to produce. “This information will be critical in establishing the true value of high index breeding stock,” explains Ms Nicol.
lower costs
However, initial indications suggest these lambs cost less to produce as they spend fewer days on farm. At Philpin House Farm, Chapel-le-Dale, David Gardner found lambs by the high-index Charollais sire finished an average of three weeks sooner than those by the farm”s unrecorded tups.
Results from Mr Gardner”s flock show the average slaughter age of lambs by the high-index tup was 140 days compared with 161 days for lambs by the farm”s tups.
Although lambs by the high-index sire had lighter carcasses, a higher proportion were within the 21kg weight limit. Many also earned a bonus for fat class and conformation, with most of them grading U for conformation.
The farm – run by Mr Gardner and his wife Carol – carries a flock of Lleyn ewes run alongside Swaledales used to produce Mule lambs. Most of the farm”s prime lambs are sold through Rose County Foods, Clitheroe. Data were collected from 56 lambs sired by the high-index Charollais ram supplied from the trial”s sire team, and compared with data from 30 lambs by the farm”s own tups.
Mr Gardner admits he was unimpressed with the high-index tup when it arrived on his farm, but the ram”s progeny out of Lleyn ewes earned an extra £1.56 a head.
Lambs by the recorded tup had similar carcass and fat class results to lambs by non-recorded sires, but more of them fell within the buyer”s weight specification, explains Alison Nicol. “More than 21% of lambs by the farm”s tups were overweight compared with just 3% of lambs by the high-index sire.”
The extra value of lambs by the high-index sire is based on a price of 2.40/kg. The high-index tup”s progeny averaged 18.9kg, while the farm tups” progeny averaged 19.3kg (see table). But the advantage came with the savings incurred from the 21 days earlier finishing. Valued at 12p a day that accrued to £2.52, giving these lambs a value of £47.88.