The search is on for the country’s best rams. Pedigree breeders across the UK are invited to put forward rams they believe have good lamb growth, carcase weight and conformation to take part in the 2022 RamCompare project.

RamCompare is the national progeny test for terminal sire breeds, funded by the levy boards AHDB, HCC, QMS and supported by Agrisearch in Northern Ireland and working with partners across the food chain.

In its seventh year, the project uses data from throughout the supply chain to inform genetic evaluations. To date, 313 terminal sire rams have been on test in the UK producing over 30,000 lambs from commercial ewes, mated using artificial insemination (AI) or natural service. 

Beth Alexander, Cattle & Sheep Specialist at QMS said:

“RamCompare is an excellent opportunity for ram breeders in Scotland to get involved in a UK-wide project which not only benefits the industry but can provide them with data and feedback on their nominated rams and compare against flocks of all breeds from across the country.”

Since its inception, the project has clearly demonstrated the commercial value of using performance recorded rams with a high genetic merit to create a series of new breeding values derived from abattoir data. It helps to highlight the most profitable sires and “shape the future” for the UK lamb industry targeting some of the levy-board strategic priorities:

• Driving the use of superior genetics on-farm, through increased understanding and use of estimated breeding values (EBVs).

• Farming to benefit our environment, with more commercial lambs hitting target carcase specifications and reaching slaughter weight sooner reducing the carbon footprint of UK livestock
farming.

Pedigree breeders use this data to enhance their breeding enterprises, breeding superior rams for commercially important traits and using Estimated Breeding Values (EBVs) to market rams.

Results from the project enable commercial farmers to select superior performance recorded rams whose progeny are better able to meet market specifications with improved efficiency, carcase value and a reduced cost of production.