‘Australia’s top performing lamb producer’ has been crowned at LambEx 2024 in Adelaide.
Ricky and Marni Luhrs, from Yama Trust - Mooralla Merinos, Victoria, won the LambEx AMPC Feedlot Carcase Competition after a comprehensive process that started with delivery of lambs to Thornby Feedlot, South Australia on December 1, 2023.
The Luhrs family run 5,000 Merino ewes, with 60 % annually joined to Merino rams for their replacement and seedstock flock and 40% to a terminal sire at their ‘Yama’ farm on 1,000 hectares at Mooralla in Victoria.
Mr Luhrs said he valued the Merino breed for its versatility, resilience, and the family’s passion of growing wool.
AMPC Australia’s Top Performing lamb producer
Winner: Yama Trust - Mooralla Merino, Rick 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 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 1,500 lambs across 16 different breeds from 30 producers across Australia were entered in the competition as an opportunity to receive comprehensive feedlot and 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,” Mr Schulz said.
“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.
“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.
“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.
“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.”
Mr 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,” he said.
“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.
“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.”
Australian Meat Processor Corporation (AMPC) Chief Executive Officer Chris Taylor said they were proud partners of the 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,” Mr Taylor said.
“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.”
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.