Sheep Matters - August/ September 2017

16
AUGUST & SEPTEMBER 2017
Are you producing what the
market really wants?
Selling finished lamb
The steps to producing the
best return for your business
include identifying a market
and customer(s) and producing
animals to meet that specification.
Can you afford to not produce
what your customer requires?
Good producers deploy
appropriate skills, knowledge and
experience to deliver outstanding
husbandry and management
of their stock. Critical to the
production of well finished animals
are: (1, 2, 3)
• Regular monitoring that includes
weighing and handling.
• Adjusting feeding regimes to reach
growth targets.
• Selling animals when they are
ready, not by historical dates.
• Offering lambs in batches of even
sized animals in terms of weight,
conformation and fat levels.
• Using feedback from auction
markets, buyers or abattoirs
to adjust breeding or feeding
strategies, to improve conformation
and growth respectively.
CONFORMATION CLASS: IMPROVING CONFORMATION
FAT CLASS: INCREASING FATNESS
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Carcass classification
In the UK and Europe, the current
carcass classification system is
based on the EUROP classification
for conformation and numeric
assessment for fatness (classes
1-5). Combining the scores for
conformation and fat determines
the market most suitable for
each carcass. The grid is shown
below with the dark green areas
highlighting the core classifications
that the majority of UK abattoirs
require (2, 3).
Selling liveweight
This method of selling does not
give detailed carcass information
to the producer. However, by
targeting the SQQ range of weights
(25.5 to 45.5 kg) comprising Light,
Standard and Medium categories;
producers would expect to hit the
ideal carcass requirements for
the majority of markets. The data
presented in the graphs are derived
from GB weekly average prices
published by AHDB Beef & Lamb.
The proportion of New Season
Lamb meeting SQQ category is
beginning to drop from its 90% +
high seen through June and July,
1 2 3L 3H 4L 4H 5
as the proportion of Heavy lambs
available for sale increases. We
do not yet know what impact this
will have on the quality of lamb
carcasses produced at slaughter.
Selling deadweight
The main advantage of selling
deadweight is that detailed carcass
information and feedback can
be provided to the producer and
premiums may be paid for quality
and quantity. The GB weekly data
show that:
• The proportion of NSL carcasses
meeting R3L or better is slowly
reducing from a high and is now
approaching 50% of those reported
over the past 13 weeks.
• The proportion meeting R2 or
better has probably peaked. These
represent carcasses more suited
to export and the Mediterranean
market.
• The proportion of R3H or better is
currently at 18% and expected to
increase as the season progresses,
and lambs become fatter. Unless
these animals are specifically
aimed at the traditional or catering
butcher, we believe that they
represent a missed opportunity for
the (majority) supermarket buyers.
Time will tell!
‘The steps to producing
the best return for
your business include
identifying a market
and customer(s) and
producing animals to
meet that specification’