Improving productivity
The Scottish Blackface breed is the dominant breed used on Irish hill regions. The 2012 sheep census shows the number of Blackface ewes in Irish flocks totalling 554,010, or approximately 22% of the national ewe flock. Given the high number of Blackface ewes, productivity in the hill sheep sector can have a big influence on national output.
In his presentation, Ciaran Lynch of Teagasc explained that as productivity is low in hill flocks, with weaning rates averaging 0.8 lambs per ewe put to the ram, there is significant potential to lift productivity and improve profitability. He noted that hill farmers are constrained by the type of hill they farm with huge variation in land quality between regions and individual hills – hence the potential for improvement will vary from flock to flock.
Ciaran pointed to appropriate management and breeding changes as the starting point for improved productivity. He used the experience of the Teagasc BETTER Farm Sheep Programme to show the potential that exists and that sustained improvement is possible.
As shown in Table 1, the hill flocks in the programme have significantly lifted their performance. Even in a difficult year like 2012/13, the performance of the flocks far exceeded previous year’s levels.
Output per ewe
Ciaran told farmers that in hill and lowland flocks, output per ewe is the key driver of productivity and, ultimately, profitability. He explained that ewe output is determined by litter size and pregnancy rate but said lifting litter size is not straightforward for hill flocks as changing breed is not a realistic or viable option for many farms.
Hill flocks must rely on improving ewe liveweight and condition to increase litter size. Fortunately, this has been proven to work, with Scottish Blackface ewes particularly responsive to increasing litter size as liveweight increases. Table 2 details the impact of improved management and increased ewe liveweight at joining (breeding) on performance in Teagasc, Leenane, over a seven-year period.
Next to improving litter size, Ciaran explained that lifting pregnancy rate (number of ewes in lamb) is the next key factor to consider. He said that given the harsh environment in which many flocks are farmed, pregnancy rate is frequently an issue for hill flocks. He showed that there is a significant relationship between body condition score at joining and the pregnancy rate achieved.
For example, in the BETTER Farm Programme flocks, there was a 13.5% higher pregnancy rate between ewes with a condition score of 2 and ewes that had reached the target condition score of 3.
Lambing date
The impact of having ewes at the correct liveweight and condition score at mating has already been shown to be critical in achieving increased output. It can also have a big impact on mating dates and on subsequent lambing dates and lambing spread.
Ewes falling below optimum body condition score at lambing tend to cycle later and conceive and/or repeat more often. As shown in Table 3, lifting the body condition score (BCS) of ewes from a BCS of 2 to 3 can bring forward the mating date and lambing date by five days. This in turn will tighten the lambing spread.
The worst offenders in a flock for falling below optimum body condition are generally two-tooth hoggets and older ewes.
As liveweight varies significantly in the different environments in which ewes are farmed and in different breed strains, Ciaran explained that recommending a target weight for ewes at a given age is not entirely suitable. A more accurate guide for the target weight at mating is to express ewes as a percentage of their mature liveweight, as shown in Table 4.
As a general rule of thumb, a target mature weight of 45kg is reasonable for difficult hills while a target weight of closer to 50kg is more appropriate for flocks on hills with a higher proportion of semi-improved grassland areas.
Ram fertility
Even if favourable results in are achieved in all of the above areas, ram infertility or sub-fertility has the potential to derail a year’s preparations. The risk becomes greatest where flocks are operating single-sire mating and repeat rates are not being monitored. The risks of a sub-fertile or infertile ram can be reduced by joining groups to more than one ram or rotating rams between individual groups.
When single-sire mating, Ciaran’s advice is to only carry this out for a limited period, after which group mating should be used.
Improved grazing
Ciaran told flock owners that it is important to develop a management system that makes the optimum use of available resources. He said that farms with greenland or semi-improved areas should target grazing these areas at times that deliver the greatest benefit for the flock. For example, during the early autumn period, these ewes should be used to improve ewe liveweight and body condition score for mating.
He said that where access is limited, maximum use can still be made by drafting ewes in poor body condition for preferential grazing. In spring, these areas can be successfully used as designated areas for lambing and management of ewes rearing twin lambs.
The impact of adopting improved management techniques was illustrated through lamb performance on the Teagasc Sheep BETTER Farm Programme hill flocks and through previous studies undertaken, as shown in Table 5.
Ciaran said that increasing the duration lambs are grazed on improved pasture will obviously improve performance but pointed out that improvements are possible throughout the production system by targeting maximum use of available grazing.
Crossbreeding
Crossbreeding a percentage of the flock has the potential to lift lamb performance and breed lambs that may be more suitable for the store lamb market or finishing at French carcase weights. The percentage of the flock that can be crossbred depends on the productivity of the flock. Assuming a typical flock requires a replacement rate of 24% and allowing for 10% of any potential replacements to be discarded, there is still, according to Ciaran, a significant percentage of the flock available for crossbreeding. Table 6 shows the potential breeding strategies that can be adopted at varying productivity levels.
Breed differences
Numerous trials undertaken by Teagasc over the last four decades have shown variance in performance between different breed types/strains.
As such, there is huge scope to improve performance through targeted breeding programmes. However, the absence of a Scottish Blackface flock book with parentage information is severely limiting this potential. Preliminary research on two flocks in the Teagasc BETTER Farm Sheep Programme has shown very significant differences of 1.9kg and 2.4kg from progeny of different sires used on the farm.
There were also significant differences in progeny performance between high- versus low-index rams. Ciaran said that the true potential of utilising better genetics will not be fully achieved until breeders come together and commit to implementing a genetic improvement programme.
Summing up his presentation, Ciaran said that advanced planning and putting a programme in place of where you want to improve aspects of your flock will help to lift overall flock productivity and profitability.
Absence of light lamb markets
According to James Smyth of Irish Country Meats, the immediate market outlook for light carcase hill lambs (10-15kg) is relatively poor.
Financial difficulties in Ireland’s traditional markets in Spain, Portugal and Italy have led to exports plummeting, leaving a major void in demand for light lamb carcases.
The collapse in the Portuguese market shows just how serious market difficulties are. In 2009, Ireland exported 1,435t of light carcase lamb to Portugal. Over 70% of this trade occurred during August to December and coincided with the normal flow of lambs from hill farms and finishing units.
The trade took a massive hit when the downturn in the economy led to reduced consumer spending. A steep downward trend saw exports fall below 100t of lamb in 2013.
James said that given the light carcase nature and lower carcase value of hill lambs, it is hard to find alternative markets. He explained that there was a slight positive to the trade with exports to Tunisia in the January to October period increasing from 14t in 2011 to 173t in 2012 and then doubling to 355t in 2013.
However, he was very cautious on the prospects of the Tunisian market sustaining improved growth because of difficulties in the market and concerns over obtaining credit insurance, leaving traders very exposed.
In the absence of markets for light lamb carcases, he said there were few options but to explore ways in bringing lambs to more marketable weights.
“Producing a 12kg or 13kg lamb in the absence of a guaranteed market is not sustainable for you or me. We need to develop a sheep (breeding plan or finishing system) that at least hits an 18kg carcase. This will return a higher price to producers and will also give far more options in further processing or even trading whole carcases,” he said.
James explained that market dynamics are changing, with an increasing volume of Irish sheep meat exports now traded in value-added as opposed to carcase form. “We have to be conscious of our consumers and ensure they receive value for money when purchasing.
“The ideal is a well-conformed 18-20kg carcase with a nice cover of flesh that delivers cuts which look bright and fit well into sale trays. A shorter shelf life and poor visual appearance of light lamb carcases means many cuts are unsuitable for premium markets leaving limited market opportunities”.
Market opportunities
Looking at market opportunities for 2014, James said it is hard to look beyond increasing the carcase weight of lambs as the most realistic option in improving demand for hill lambs.
He admitted that there are likely to be opportunities coming down the line in new markets such as the Middle East (United Arab Emirates, Jordan, Qatar), South Africa, Hong Kong and for example.
However, like the Tunisian market, he said that the negatives in these markets may outweigh the positives.
He pointed to costs of processing carcases weighing 9kg to 14kg and the likely low returns, especially if carcases need to be frozen (devalue the product significantly), as huge limitations in developing new market outlets.
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