Hutts Farm - Commercial flock benefiting from increased carcase weight.

Mark and Lynne Exelby run a large organic farm in Ripon, composed of a mixed enterprise including arable and forage crops, 65 head suckler herd and 350 commercial ewes. The flock is made up of North Country Mules and lambing takes place outdoors in May and lambs are finished from grass.

Rams which ranked highly for Carcase Weight EBV performed well, bringing additional revenue from the lamb crop, producing heavier lambs at slaughter which achieved greater prices.

A couple of sires stood out, first a Charollais 20WGH02537 from Jamie Wild’s Redhill flock, with the best average carcase price, his lambs were not only heavier at slaughter but achieved top grades with 98% carcases grading R or better. This ram ranked within the top 5% for carcase attributes within the Charollais breed, with CT scanning being used throughout his pedigree to highlight these extreme muscling animals.

A Texel from Matt Prince’s Stonedge flock, YDP1801698 closely followed in the leading rams for carcase weight, similarly progeny generated up to £5 additional revenue compared to lower performing rams on test at this farm.

Key message
Selecting rams with the right genetics to lift carcase weights can enhance flock profitability. Using Signet’s EBV search tool allows breeders and buyers to refine search criteria and aid in ram selection.