LMY & EQ PDS – WA Site Facilitation

Summary

Three Producer Demonstration Sites (PDS) were undertaken in Western Australia to demonstrate the value of research breeding values (RBVs) for lean meat yield, intramuscular fat and tenderness (shear force) in prime lamb and Merino production systems.  Ewes were artificially inseminated with semen from Poll Dorset, White Suffolk and Merino rams selected to have divergent RBVs for the key traits.  Ewes were managed to Lifetime Ewe targets and achieved excellent lamb survival rates (at least 85% lambs marked to lambs scanned).  Lambs were individually identified with electronic tags and weighed at monthly intervals.  Lambs were finished according to normal on-farm practices and processed at two plants.
​Data collected from these PDS will be aggregated with data from other sites and analysed under the national coordination project, B.SCC.0144, to determine the value of RBVs for LMY and eating quality traits to ram breeders, lamb producers and processors.