JOHN and Kerry McLauchlan know the day will soon come when lamb will be specifically branded for its eating quality and marbling content.
With research currently under way into identifying these traits in sheep, the northern Tasmanian breeders are keeping their eye firmly on the ball – and how they can make sure they are ahead of the game.
"As a breed, White Suffolks are fortunate enough to be testing well for marbling and tenderness right now but we have to monitor this – and make sure we use sires that have good eating quality traits," Mr McLauchlan said.
He said he anticipated branding lamb in this way would be the next "big thing" but for now the family are content to keep a commercial focus within their operation.
The couple run 1300 sheep on their 320-hectare Westbury, Tas, farm, which includes 600 White Suffolk stud ewes and 700 commercial ewes.
They have placed a big emphasis on getting the most from breeding values and LambPlan, as they have done for the past 20 years.
They are also members of the Superwhites group, a small collection of White Suffolk breeders focused on producing rams that encompass the best genetics for prime lambs.
"We nominate our best young rams and then the selection committee picks the top 10 that are expected to have the most impact," Mr McLauchlan said. "They have to have diversity among those top animals – and then the group gets to use those genetics in their flocks."
As a Superwhites member, Mr McLauchlan said he didn't get access to every Superwhite ram – probably just two to three.
Records are then kept on the progeny for benchmarking.
They also DNA test their animals to gather more information on lambs at a young age.
Prior to LambPlan the couple found it tricky selecting animals – being able to select for type and structure, while also having to mentally calculate things like weight gain.
"I let the computer do the hard work now," Mr McLauchlan said.
By picking out top genetics each year, the McLauchlans have been able to advance the quality of their flock.
This year one of their best ram lambs was in the top 10 per cent of the breed for low birth weight in LambPLan, in the top 1pc for post-weaning eye-muscle depth (PEMD) and in the top 1pc for the Carcase Plus index.
It also tipped the scales at 15.9 kilograms for post-weaning weight (top 3pc of the breed).
"We want rams that can produce rams with low birth weights but they have to have good muscle, grow fast and yield well," he said.
"If you are just selecting for growth rates, then birth weights tend to become a problem.
"It's a constant job of improving your flock but with each drop we hope to get better."
They know their clients want live lambs so a focus on birth weight has been a big sticking point in the breeding program.
"We aim to have a spread of low to medium birth weights to suit people's needs," Mr McLauchlan said.
Joining starts in January but most are mated in late April through to May.
Most of the stud White Suffolk ewes are first joined as ewe lambs in a bid to improve traits faster.
"We cull heavily and don't end up with a lot that are more than four or five years old," he said.
"By doing this, we can advance the flock faster – plus for an animal not growing wool, you want to breed them at a young age."
Lambing begins in early June, with the bulk of the flock lambing down in late September or October.
"We deliberately lamb later to keep the lambs out of the worst of the weather," Mr McLauchlan said.
Results equate to a lambing rate of 145pc.
But this result is dependent on the season.
"The better feed you have, the more twins you will get," he said.
About 150 stud rams are sold at an annual on-farm sale in February, with another 100 sold privately.
"We really tend to attract clients that like being able to look at the figures," Mrs McLauchlan said.
"There's more demand for that now and we've noticed that producers have learnt what figures suit their operation."
Mr McLauchlan agrees.
"If you buy a ram just on visual assessment, you can get two rams that look exactly the same but their figures are miles apart," he said.
Stud lambs are weaned at 14 weeks but commercials are left on their mothers longer, particularly if there is reasonable summer feed.
"The sheep are able to graze of fodder crops from mid-summer through to autumn," he said, adding that the couple sowed a mix of cereals and brassicas.
The first lot of lambs go at five months of age, with some of these Meat Standards Australia (MSA) graded lambs ending up at Melrose Meats Queensland, having been first processed at SBA Devonport. Heavier lambs usually go to SBA Longford for export.
The McLauchlans' efforts in turning off top-quality lambs was recognised at this year's Campbell Town Show, where they took out first place in the paddock-to-plate competition for the first time.
Their entries received the highest aggregate points in both the trade and heavyweight categories.
"This year they live-scanned the lambs so you could see the eye muscle and fat depth," Mrs McLauchlan said.
"It was a good innovation.
"It's a great way to get better at assessing your own lambs, too."
As for the future?
The couple are excited to find out how far technology can advance their operation – and the industry.
"Five years ago we would not have thought it was possible to do what we are doing now," Mr McLauchlan said.
"It's a surprise to see how much you can improve."