The UK’s leading sheep progeny testing project is looking for new commercial farms across England and Wales to take part in the upcoming season.
The RamCompare project is seeking “host” farms that can provide around 300 commercial ewes of a consistent breed type.
These ewes will be mated with terminal sire rams supplied by the initiative, using either single-sire natural service groups or artificial insemination (AI).
RamCompare collects vital performance data from commercial lambs to support genetic improvement and enhance productivity across the sheep sector.
Bridget Lloyd, RamCompare project coordinator said: “This is a great opportunity for host farms to benefit from using top genetics within their flock.
"They have the chance to use rams with high health and genetic merit, they will get support to benchmark their flock performance against other project farms and the opportunity to engage with a small group of innovative likeminded farmers.”
All rams used in the RamCompare project are selected from the top 20% of performance-recorded terminal sires.
Host farms play a key role by collecting detailed performance data using electronic identification (EID), tracking each lamb from birth through to slaughter.
Lambs are reared as one management group within a fast-finishing system to ensure consistent data collection.
To be eligible as a host farm for RamCompare, which is jointly funded by Hybu Cig Cymru – Meat Promotion Wales (HCC) and AHDB, participants must meet several key requirements.
Farms must provide 300 commercial ewes of a consistent breed type and use high-index, performance-recorded terminal sire rams supplied by the project. Ewes must be mated in single-sire groups to ensure accurate data collection.
All lambs must be individually monitored using electronic identification (EID) from birth through to slaughter, allowing comprehensive performance data to be gathered.
Additionally, lambs must be managed as a single group under a fast-finishing system to maintain consistency throughout the trial.
Artificial insemination (AI) is optional and can be arranged for 90 to 120 ewes as part of the project. Participating host farms will receive funding to support the data collection process.
Dr Heather McCalman, development executive at HCC, said: “A number of pedigree performance recorded flocks in Wales have submitted rams to this project over the years in order to test their value in a commercial progeny test.
“To hear more about them, the project and genetic improvement in sustainable grassland livestock systems, we will be hosting an open day at Glascoed farm on 4 September.
"It will also be a chance to hear about the economic benefits achieved for lamb enterprises using top performance recorded sires in a commercial system.
"Save the date and keep an eye out for more information later in the year.”
