RamCompare welcomes new farms to the project

Three new commercial farms have joined the RamCompare project this breeding season. They will use highly rated, Signet-recorded rams this autumn and track the performance of each ram’s progeny from birth to slaughter.

This will be the tenth breeding season for the national progeny test, which is joint funded by AHDB and Hybu Cig Cymru (HCC).

The three new farms are:

• Tom Cox at Manor Farm, Stafford
• Neil and Emily Brown at New House Farm, Ludlow
• Kevin and Melissa Candy at Leaze Farm, Chippenham

Bridget Lloyd, RamCompare project coordinator, said:

“It’s great to welcome new farms to the project. On each farm these lambs will be managed as uniform groups and sold to ABP, with slaughter data collected for every lamb. This enables the project to compare the carcase composition and weight of lambs produced by sires from a range of different terminal sire breeds.”

Over the nine years of the RamCompare project, trials have been run across 16 farms.

Abattoir data has been analysed for 38,142 lambs to test the 519 sires that have been put forward for assessment.

The impact is clear in breeds like the Hampshire Down and Charollais, where rates of genetic gain in carcase traits have doubled since the start of the project.

The genetic information generated by RamCompare enables producers to identify sires whose lambs are consistently worth an extra £3–5/head. This equates to an extra £1,500 to £2,600 per annum for the average lowland flock.

Tom Cox, Manor Farm, said:

“With our early lambing flock I am targeting rams with high growth rates for a fast-finishing system which fits well alongside our dairy enterprise. I have high expectations from my sheep. We have a tight lambing period and aim to start killing lambs around 9–10 weeks of age, with most sold off their mums.

“When I realised RamCompare was keen to work with flocks like mine I was naturally interested. I was already collecting much of this data for my own interest, to monitor flock performance with a view to improving production.”

Neil Brown, New House Farm, said:

“We have been aware of RamCompare for some years through our links as an AHDB Strategic Farm. Over the years we have changed our minds about running mobs of rams with large numbers of ewes, as rams often spent time fighting rather than tupping. We want a tight lambing period, so we need our rams to work efficiently.

“We look forward to working alongside the RamCompare project to provide growth data and slaughter records from ABP to see how these rams have performed through their offspring next year.”

Kevin Candy, Leaze Farm, said:

“We have been considering which terminal sire breeds would suit our commercial flock for some years and look forward to seeing what works in our system.

“Our closed flock of pedigree MV-accredited Lleyn ewes have a high health status, so it is important to us that our farm biosecurity is not compromised. The fact that RamCompare have a rigorous quarantine protocol gives us reassurance when introducing new rams to the flock.”