Targeted Lamb Production and Marketing

Summary

Producers who attended the "Paddock to Plate" industry tour reported an increased understanding of improving the value of lamb skins, insight into the throughput of Coles and Top Cut and learned about how these companies are keen to purchase direct from producers. They learned about the "New Trim Lamb" products, packaging technology, and consumer preferences and trends - including the demographics of meat buyers and the cuts they choose. The dry seasons affected the LAMBPLAN terminal sire demonstration trial, with most lambs having a carcase weight of 20-23.9 kg, and lambs less than 19 kg carcase weight receiving a 100c/kg penalty.

There was a marked difference in carcase weight of lambs from high and average index rams, although this was lower than the expected 1.5 kg. At observed rates, and assuming a conservative lamb price of $2.80/kg, this would translate to the progeny of high index rams yielding an additional profit of $556 over the lifetime of a high index ram. An interesting outcome of the finishing trials was the success of chicory. Chicory persisted over the dry summers and helped put an extra 5.5 kg liveweight on a flock of lambs. These trials introduced participants to weighing lambs, enabling an understanding of the growth rates of lambs to be developed. One producer repeated his finishing trial using chicory the following year, and reported that he was able to lift the lambs from trade to heavy trade and export weight, thereby increasing the value of the lambs by an average of $20 per head.