Earn €200/ha more by upgrading to five-star ewes

LAMB producers could improve return by more than €200/ha by replacing one-star ewes with five-star ewes under similar farming conditions, when lambs born, lower mortality and higher stocking rates are taken into account.

The findings were presented by Fiona McGovern at the Sheep Ireland stakeholders meeting at Athenry. She said that genetic merit traits were associated with superior performance.

McGovern said that the economic efficiency of a 100ewe flock improved from €7/ha net profit to €217/ha when the genetic merit of the flock increased from one star to five stars.

Significant performance differences were identified between CPT (Central Progeny Test) and INZAC (Irish and New Zealand Breed Comparison) flocks, for lamb mortality, when one- and five-star animals were compared.

While lamb mortality was slightly lower in the CPT flock for One Star Replacement animals than in INZAC flocks at 10.65pc versus 11pc, five star INZAC flock mortality dropped to 5.1pc compared to 9.45pc for the CPT flock.

While the number of lambs born was slighty high for the CPT flock, the difference between one and five stars was very slight in either CPT or INZAC. Lambing difficulties dropped from 23pc to 18pc when the CPT flock moved from one to five star, while the improvement of similar change in INZAC was marginal, dropping from 22pc to 21pc.