LAMBPRO FIVE STAR SIRES SET TO UNDERPIN EATING QUALITY OF THE LAMB INDUSTRY

Holbrook based lamb genetics business, LAMBPRO is set to launch a new brand for their terminal sires, to denote those suitable for premium lamb production.

The LAMBPRO Five Star Sires classification will be assigned to sires that are trait leaders for marbling which have a high level of accuracy.

The aim is to allow producers who target premium markets, to be able to confidently purchase sires to use in their breeding programs, which will deliver maximum consumer satisfaction.

Tom Bull of LAMBPRO stated “The beef industry has done a great job underpinning brands with high accuracy marbling genetics. For lamb to target the top echelon of consumers world-wide, we need to follow beef.”

MLA data suggest consumers will pay double for MSA 5 Score lamb versus MSA 3 Score lamb. Tom believes being able to have sires that will consistently produce that MSA 5 Score lamb is what will take the industry to the next level.

The new terminal sire brand for LAMBPRO is the culmination of five years of work, focusing on transitioning their terminal sire flock towards high value markets.

This has involved consumer testing and meat testing of sires over the past three years. “We saw in our 2016 lamb sensory tests, the impact marbling had on flavor and juiciness when rated by consumers.”

Tradie sired lamb chops                                                     LAMBPRO 150513: One of Australia’s leading marbling sires

There are plenty of rams that are trait leaders with accuracies of 20-30%. What differentiates LAMBPRO’s Five Star Sires is their accuracy. “We want to be able to provide genetic information on rams with over 50% accuracy.

‘This year alone, 28 sires have been tested which will provide a significant boost of accuracy to the 850 terminal sires to be offered this season’.

The other tool that will accelerate accuracy is genomics. ‘We have increased our genomic testing to a third of the ram drop, with the aim of finding outliers for our breeding program, and our clients. It’s possible we will genomic test all rams in the coming year’.

The work is paying off. Over half of our Tradie’s and nearly a third of our Dorset’s are projected to qualify for our LAMBPRO Five Star Sires program.

In addition to intense selection in the Poll Dorset’s, the infusion of Southdown has made a big impact. ‘The Tradie is basically a Dorset that has a Southdown infusion, and has performed extremely well in our program to date. More importantly we are getting some good feedback from end users in regards to improvement in eating quality.

‘High end brands, underpinned by eating quality will occur in lamb, as in beef. We are simply positioning our clients to take advantage of this revolution.’

“We have an increasing interest from clients who are integrated into various supply chains. Their markets are demanding products which will provide customers with an enhanced eating quality experience. However, with processing plants not being able to measure marbling yet, genetics fed appropriately is the best strategy for processors to purchase progeny of known measured genes.”

The first offering of the LAMBPRO Five Star Rated Sires will be at the LAMBPRO Selection Day in November, with 400 Poll Dorset and Tradie Rams on offer.