Improving farm productivity with better carcase feedback
Claire Payne DPIRD Katanning WA
Author correspondence: claire.payne@dpird.wa.gov.au
Carcase lean meat yield (LMY) and eating quality create value across the supply chain. However, current methods of measuring lean meat yield and eating quality in lamb are inaccurate or non-existent, resulting in poor feedback to producers and therefore slow improvements in these traits. The development of technologies that objectively measure carcase quality traits, including the installation of DEXA at WAMMCO, now can provide accurate carcase feedback to producers.
This project facilitates producers through the Meat the Market Profitable Grazing Systems (PGS) program. The first producer group includes 7 farm businesses that have completed the 3 workshop sessions. These sessions create a producer-processor relationship with open communication around carcase feedback, pricing signals, and market specifications. The producers learn the basics of manipulating lean meat yield and eating quality on farm and applying those techniques based on carcase feedback. Lambs from 4 farm businesses have been processed at WAMMCO with producers receiving DEXA LMY and SOMA intramuscular fat information. This feedback will be used in future coaching sessions to assist implementing changes on-farm.
Prior to the project, most producers did not assess carcase compliance over time or use feedback to improve carcase performance. Most producers did not know how to best manipulate lean meat yield and eating quality via genetics, and how lamb growth alters these carcase traits. Producers were least confident in identifying the “sweet spot” on the price grid, increasing lean meat yield in lambs, and assessing pasture quantity. After the workshops, producers’ knowledge gaps and confidence improved by 20%, with the highest confidence scores seen in activities targeted by the workshops including understanding ASBVs and percentile reports, matching feed requirements with pasture assessment, and pre-slaughter fat score assessment.
Producers rated the sessions very highly and all expressed a strong intent to change as a result of attending the workshops. We will continue to coach the producers with on-farm management decisions and monitor their progress with carcase compliance, lamb turn off productivity, and farm profitability.
More information about this SheepLinks project can be found on the Objective Carcase Measurement Feedback webpage.