Teagasc imports ‘genetically elite’ NZ sheep to view Irish performance
Teagasc’s move is partly a response to the decline in Mediterranean markets for lamb from Irish hill flocks. Irish lamb exports to the combined Portuguese and Spanish markets are down by 87% in recent years.
Ireland’s national agri-food and research authority, Teagasc used the Athenry seminar to focus on its approach to evaluating the newly-imported breeds against contemporary Irish Texel and Suffolk sheep. Teagasc plans to use this trial as an aid in evaluating the replacement breeding index to ensure that animals deemed to be of high genetic merit for maternal traits are generating more profit at flock level.
This flock will also be used to determine the suitability of New Zealand genetics for Irish grass based production systems. The impact of using high genetic merit, five-star rams on lamb output was also discussed at the conference.
Teagasc also outlined new project findings from its research demonstration farm, where it is examining the effects of stocking rate and ewe prolificacy on lamb output per hectare. The authority has now completed almost three years of studies.
It has been found that stocking rate and prolificacy are both key drivers of output, increasing output by 110 kilos carcase weight per hectare and gross margin by €254 per hectare.
A long-term study that examined the effects of the rearing regime for replacements on the lifetime performance of ewes differing in prolificacy is being completed. This study found that the plane of nutrition offered to replacement ewe lambs during the first winter has a lifetime impact on the weight of progeny at weaning. It’s recommended that replacement ewe lambs should be managed during the first winter to gain 50 grams daily and managed during their second summer to gain 90 grams daily.
