Glascoed Farm

The economic and environmental benefits of faster finishing demonstrated on Welsh RamCompare farm 

On many grass-based systems where lambs are drawn at a similar weight and level of finish the main differences that we see in performance are expressed in terms of days to slaughter.

At Alwyn Nutting’s Glascoed farm in Powys this is clearly seen when comparing the performance of lambs produced by a range of high genetic merit rams, where those with the highest genetic merit for growth rate produced progeny that constantly finished more quickly.

The leading three rams used at Glascoed in 2024 represented a range of breeds, with a Charollais, Suffolk and Composite Suffolk all ranking highly for growth rate. The improvements in growth rate didn’t compromise carcase attributes either, on average their progeny were worth £1 more than the average lamb in the flock due to slightly superior carcase conformation and fat classification – but they finished nearly a month sooner.

When looking at flock performance it is significantly easier to value increases in carcase weight and conformation, than it is to assess the economic impact of reducing days to slaughter, but there are real benefits in getting lambs finished more quickly.

There are the direct costs and savings associated with:

• A reduction in forage and/or concentrate consumption
• A potential reduction in vet and medicine costs

There are also indirect benefits, which are harder to assess – but can be important.

• Labour requirements reduce as lambs leave the farm, though savings are initially small until large draws are finished.
• The longer lambs are on the farm the greater the risk of mortality or the chance they encounter environmental factors that may limit performance, such as drought or worm challenge.
• The early sale of lambs will free up land for other purposes, such as the finishing of store lambs, getting ewes back into condition for tupping or overwintering extra ewes at the end of the year.

What is the value of faster finishing to sheep producers?

For a grass-based flock, feed and forage costs are typically 10-20p per lamb per day, while selling earlier onto a falling summer market can be worth an extra 15p per day. In financial terms these sires are delivering a saving of £4-6/lamb compared to their flock mates and these are just the economic benefits. The environmental benefits of faster finishing can also be considered. The more quickly lambs leave the farm, the less methane they produce over their lifetime. By increasing lamb growth rates through the use of genetically superior sires we can also reduce the carbon footprint of lamb production.

How can I reduce days to slaughter in my flock?

Nutrition, health and genetics all influence the speed with which lambs finish. Genetics are arguably the easiest aspect to change, selecting those rams that will produce the fastest finishing offspring.

Data from RamCompare has consistently shown that rams with high Scan Weight EBVs produce progeny that finish more quickly, but new information is now available to aid commercial ram buyers.

Signet publish a series of Estimated Breeding Values (EBVs) on the Signet website (www.signetdata.com) including those for abattoir derived traits, like Days to Slaughter EBV to aid commercial producers seeking genetically superior rams.

For more information…..