LambEx

Ricky Luhrs, from Yama Trust - Mooralla Merinos, Victoria has taken out the illustrious title after a comprehensive process that started with delivery of lambs to Thornby Feedlot, South Australia on 1 December 2023.

Ricky, along with his wife Marni and their family, run 5,000 Merino ewes, with 60 per cent annually joined to Merino for their replacement & seedstock flock and 40 per cent to a terminal sire at their ‘Yama’ farm on 1000 hectares at Mooralla in Victoria. He values the Merino breed for their versatility, resilience and the families passion growing wool.

The competition, an initiative of the LambEx Organising Committee, had clear aims to benchmark sheep genetics and provide a process that identified eating quality traits with no breed parameters according to LambEx Chair Jason Schulz.

“A total of 1500 lambs across 16 different breeds from 30 producers across Australia were entered in the competition as an opportunity to receive comprehensive feedlot & carcase feedback on their sheep genetics. Groups of 50 were placed under the same conditions and same rations before being processed at the Stawell, TFI processing facility,” said Jason.

“Deemed a ‘lamb of origin’, we aimed to provide outputs for producers to understand their genetic profile including carcase and wool yield and allow them to use these results to inform future breeding objectives – as well as comparing their performance against other producers,” he said.

‘Ricky is a great example of a Merino breeder, who has a focus on breeding a flock using a balance of traits that ensure he achieves his desired wool clip, on an animal that has the carcase credentials to take the industry forward,’ said Jason.

“To date, MSA grading for lamb hasn’t been achievable, with the MLA modelling for sheep-meat grading only been available in recent years. There is so much potential to use this data to market lamb as a premium product effectively, so the commercial-led competition really stemmed from that need,” said Jason.

“Interestingly, results showed there was as much variation in carcase traits within a breed as there is when comparing different breeds, meaning there is greater opportunity for improvement through genetic selection at the farm level, based on data from MSA feedback,” said Jason.

“Recording individual carcase traits against the lambs using eiD has demonstrated MSA grading in lamb is possible by leveraging industry investment in abattoir technology, but not without its challenges,” he said.

Ricky Luhrs entered the competition to inform his enterprise and to use the data as a standpoint for marketing.

“I joined the competition essentially for the data in order to increase awareness of the modern Merino, and its ability to perform as a dual-purpose animal, as I was confident about these abilities,” said Ricky.

“To be able to benchmark and quantify will be extremely important in adding value from producer right through the supply chain including to the consumers and restaurants – and these results place me in a great position to now do that,” he said.

“The LambEx AMPC Feedlot Carcase Competition has provided me with essential data and information that I will be definitely using to leverage marketing of our product and to inform ongoing business and breeding decisions,” said Ricky.

Australian Meat Processor Corporation (AMPC) CEO Chris Taylor said, “We are proud partners of the AMPC LambEx AMPC Feedlot Carcase Competition. As the research and development corporation supporting red meat processors across Australia, this competition allows sheep producers from across Australia the unique opportunity to benchmark their sheep genetics.

“The benchmarking of sheep genetics underpins the great success of Australian red meat products both domestically and globally, supporting over 138,000 jobs across the processing sector alone. We are proud to work with the industry and our research partners on developing and commercialising innovative solutions and delivering value for the supply chain.”

LambEx AMPC Feedlot Carcase Competition Overall winner

AMPC Australia’s Top Performing lamb producer

Winner: Yama Trust - Mooralla Merino, Rick & Marni Luhrs

Section and category winners:

Trans Australia – Highest Feedlot ADG lamb team

Winner: Cazna Park - Cameron Macpherson

Nutrien Wool – Most valuable lamb team wool clip

Winner: Pepper Well Partners  - Hansi Graetz

Thornby – Overall Highest Feedlot Performing lamb team

Winner: Stopp Family Trust  - Samantha Stopp

Meat & Livestock Australia – Highest MSA Sheepmeat Index lamb team

Winner: Barooka Trading Trust  - Henry Goode

Thomas Foods International – Overall Highest Carcase Performing lamb team

Winner: Barooka Trading Trust  - Henry Goode

The AMPC LambEx Feedlot Carcase Competition has been a collaborative effort between key partners AMPC, Thomas Foods International, Thornby Feedlot and Meat & Livestock Australia to deliver a Meat Standards Australia (MSA) cuts-based graded commercial focused lamb feedlot carcase competition, the first of its type of lamb across Australia.