bewety and the feast - agric.wa.gov.au
TRANSCRIPT
Department ofAgriculture and Food
Bewety and the feast Sheep industry research open dayKatanning30 March 2017
Supporting your success
Contents
Foreword 2
Setting the scene - Western Australian flock demographics 3
Flock projection 5
Finally we can talk about fat 6
Yardstick sire referencing demonstration 9
Katanning Reference Flock 12
The Australian Wool Innovation Ltd breech strike resistance project 14
DAFWA and UWA joining forces to solve the winter dag problem 18
Running the ruler over lamb in 2017 – the future of lean meat yield analysis 20
We like our meat red! Demonstration of packaging options to optimise colour at
retail & colour measurement technology 23
Eat the lot - demonstration of cut by cook effect on sheep eating quality 26
Chaos on the maternity ward: can optimising lambing density minimise
mismothering and improve lamb survival? 28
Labour or love? Labour saving technologies that allow a life off farm 32
The good gas on methane: live demonstration of gas measures 35
Ewetube: let Siri do the sheepwork! 38
Contact 40
2
Foreword
On behalf of the Department of Agriculture and Food, Western Australia (DAFWA), it
gives me great pleasure to welcome you to ‘Bewety and the Feast’ – a sheep
industry research open day. ‘Bewety and the Feast’ is being delivered by DAFWA’s
Sheep Industry Business Innovation (SIBI) project in partnership with the Sheep
Alliance of Western Australia, made possible by the State Government’s Royalties
for Regions investment.
The WA sheep industry is an important part of the WA economy, with the combined
farm-gate value of sheep meat and wool being over $1.1 billion dollars per year. The
SIBI project is focused on increasing the economic value of the sheep industry
backed by research, development and innovation. Events like today are focused on
building industry capacity to help sheep producers deliver the volume and quality of
products required by new and existing markets.
Research into areas that can increase productivity from the same or a larger base
flock, and investment in new technologies that can improve labour efficiency, sheep
traceability and advances in breeding, are an essential part of growing the WA sheep
industry. Ultimately these will all combine to increase the value of and confidence in
the WA sheep industry.
I hope that after today’s program you leave feeling confident of the high quality of
collaborative research that is being conducted on your behalf, and that through
increased adoption we can all help the WA sheep industry meet the demand for
meat and wool into the future.
Dr Bruce Mullan
Director Sheep Industry Development
Department of Agriculture and Food, Western Australia
3
Setting the scene - Western Australian flock demographics
Following two decades of decline the Western Australian (WA) sheep flock reached
its lowest number in mid-2011 when it numbered just 14.0 million head following a
severe drought in the prime sheep producing regions of WA. Between 2010/11 and
2012/13 the flock went through a recovery phase rebuilding to 15.5 million, an
increase of 10%. However, over the following two years the size of the WA flock
contracted, declining to 14.0 million by mid-2015, before rising to approximately 14.3
million in 2016 (Figure 1).
Similarly the number of breeding ewes has also declined during the last ten years. In
2004/05 there were 13.3 million ewes but this number has fallen to 7.5 million in
2015/16.
Whilst declining in absolute terms, WA sheep turn-off as a proportion of the flock size
has increased in recent years. This is reflective of the rising importance of
sheepmeat, increasing marking rates and the changing structure of the flock. In
2004/05 turn-off as a percentage of the flock was less than 30% however this has
risen to 41% in 2015/16.
Figure 1 Closing number of sheep and lambs, and closing number of breeding ewes in WA and total turn-off for WA (Based on Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) data, DAFWA analysis)1
Over the last 25 years, the WA sheep flock has changed in structure and
composition. As evident in Figure 2 the breeding ewe component of the flock has
increased significantly from 45% in 1990 to 62% in 2015, whilst at the same time the
proportion of wethers in the flock has decreased from 32% to 9%. This is largely due
to the rising importance of sheepmeat, especially lamb, to the sheep enterprise and
the reduced reliance on wool due to low prices following the stockpile era.
1 2015/16* DAFWA estimate.
0
5
10
15
20
25
No
. he
ad (
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ion
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Turn-off Flock size Breeding ewes
4
Figure 2 Changes in the Western Australian flock composition between 1990 and 2015 (Based on ABARES AgSurf data, DAFWA analysis)
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
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ock
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5
Flock Projection
It is estimated that the WA sheep flock may number just 12.9 million in mid-2017 as
seen below in Error! Reference source not found..
Opening number of sheep 14.3 million
Number of ewes joined 6.6 million
Marking rate 88%
Lambs marked (est.) 5.81 million
Turn off
Lambs slaughtered 3.3 million
Sheep slaughtered 1.0 million
Live exports 1.7 million
Interstate movements 0.3 million
Total turn off (est.) 6.39 million
Losses (~6%) 0.9 million
Closing number of sheep (est.) 12.9 million (-10.1%)
Table 1 Western Australian flock project 1
In July 2016 it is estimated that the total number of sheep and lambs in WA was 14.3
million head. The five year averages indicate approximately 5.81 million lambs
marked and total turn-off, which includes sheep and lamb slaughter, live export and
interstate transfers, is projected to reach around 6.39 million. Including an allowance
for losses on farm, this gives a closing number of 12.9 million sheep for the close of
the 2016/17 financial year- a year on year decrease of 10%.
6
Finally we can talk about fat
Sarah Blumer, Murdoch University
Sarah is a research officer working at Murdoch University with a focus on the feed
and liveweight efficiency of adult ewes. Not having too much herself, Sarah is
excited about making sure her own ewes have enough fat to sustain the amazing
work they do for the wool and sheep meat industries.
The storage and mobilisation of fat is an important mechanism for all animals to cope
with fluctuating environments. Fat is stored during favourable times and then
mobilised to provide energy for fundamental functions when requirements exceed
supply, such as during periods of limited nutrition or during late pregnancy and
lactation as explain in more detail below.
Environmental and genetic factors influencing the liveweight of adult Merino and Border Leicester-Merino ewes across multiple sites and years (2015) S. E. Blumer, G. E. Gardner, M. B. Ferguson and A. N. Thompson Variation in liveweight change in the ewe flock during periods of poor nutrition can
affect farm profitability through the effects of liveweight loss on potential stocking
rate, management interventions including supplementary feeding, and ewe and lamb
survival and productivity. There is variation between individual animals in their ability
to manage periods of poor nutrition, but the links between liveweight change and
breeding values in the adult ewe flock have not been quantified. We analysed 5216
splined liveweight profiles for 2772 ewes managed over three years at eight sites
across Australia to define the relative effects of environment, reproductive
performance and breeding values on liveweight change. The range in liveweight
loss varied from 1.3kg to 21.6kg, with site and year the largest contributors to
liveweight change. This demonstrates that seasonal conditions and management
were the most important factors influencing liveweight change. Liveweight loss was
influenced by previous and current reproductive performance but these effects were
small in comparison to the effects of site and year. There were mixed effects of sire
breeding values for growth, fat and muscle depending on site. Increasing sire
breeding values for fat by 1mm acted to reduce liveweight loss by up to 1.3kg,
mostly at those sites with a larger proportion of weight loss. Management had the
greatest effect on liveweight change however there appears to be scope to use
breeding values to select sheep that will lose less weight during periods of poor
nutrition in some environments.
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Whole body fatness is a good predictor of phenotypic feed and liveweight efficiency in adult Merino ewes fed a poor quality diet (2016) S. E. Blumer, G. E. Gardner, M. B. Ferguson and A. N. Thompson
We predicted that adult Merino ewes with a higher proportion of fat would be more
efficient, through both lower intake and reduced weight loss. Four year old Merino
ewes (n = 64) were held in single pens and fed a chaff based diet either ad libitum
with the aim of achieving liveweight maintenance, or a restricted amount in order to
achieve liveweight loss of 100 g/day. Liveweight change and feed intake were
measured, and residual liveweight change and residual feed intake were used to
indicate efficiency. There was a difference of 2 mega joules of metabolisable energy
per day between the most efficient and least efficient ewes for residual feed intake,
and a difference of 90g per day between the most efficient and least efficient ewes
for residual liveweight change. There was a significant association between blood
plasma levels of leptin and both liveweight and feed efficiency, so that ewes with
high levels of leptin had a lower daily intake, and/or lost less weight than those with
low levels of leptin. Managing adult Merino ewes to maximise fat tissue accretion
during spring via genetics and/or nutritional management could be a useful strategy
to reduce feed requirements during summer/autumn because the ewes will be more
efficient and have larger fat reserves to lose before achieving a lower critical limit.
Increasing sire breeding values for post weaning fat improves the condition score of their adult ewe progeny in late pregnancy (2016) S.E. Blumer, B.L. Paganoni, C.A. Macleay and A.N. Thompson There is a positive relationship between condition score, and sire ASBVs for post
weaning fat, and this suggests that selecting for high fat allows ewes to maintain a
higher level of body condition during a period of peak demand on their maternal
tissues. This could be due to an association with higher intake or with intake
efficiency. Feed intake of ewes during late pregnancy under pasture conditions is
often insufficient to support foetal requirements in addition to ewe maintenance,
leading to an energy deficit and mobilisation of maternal tissues. Reid & Hinks
(1962) reported that fat ewes had reduced intake in comparison to ewes in medium
condition, which suggests that the mechanism is more likely to be linked to
efficiency. There are some reported benefits of whole body fatness on feed
efficiency in dry ewes (Blumer et al. 2016), and it seems from this study that these
benefits could be amplified in pregnant and lactating ewes.
Selection for high fat genetics could therefore improve ewe condition score at critical
points such as late pregnancy. This would have additional production benefits such
as improving lamb survival, which is positively related to condition score of ewes in
late pregnancy (Oldham et al. 2011; Paganoni et al. 2016). A better understanding
of fat tissue deposition, its distribution and mobilisation in Merino ewes would be
helpful to realise these potential benefits.
8
Notes:
9
Yardstick sire referencing demonstration
Bob Hall, Icon Agriculture
Bob is one of a team of Farm Management consultants with Icon Agriculture with
offices in the Southern Sheep Belt of WA at Darkan. While applying a whole farm
approach to business consulting they specialise in sheep management and the place
of sheep in the whole farm enterprise. Their clients run over 1% of the national
sheep flock. Their annual benchmarking figures are second to none regarding the
sheep enterprise, its profit and possibilities.
The sheep on display in the yards are the ewe progeny of the 2015 mating for the
yardstick sire evaluation trial.
13 sires were entered for the 2015 Yardstick progeny test and carefully selected and
randomised ewes were mated by laparoscopic AI at the Mt Barker Research Station
in early February 2015. The progeny were moved to GSARI Katanning after weaning
and have been there since.
One of the sires Merinotech WA Poll 95 5043 (born in 1995) is sponsored by AWI as
a “Historical Sire”. This was entered in a yardstick trial many years previous to 2015
and AWI is interested in assessing genetic progress over the years.
A full range of measurements are taken from the progeny. Breech score and
wrinkle; body weights at various ages; all fleece data; Eye muscle and fat etc. In
addition all the sheep are classed by a professional sheep classer (Preston Clarke)
for all visual attributes. Worm resistance was supposed to be tested but the sheep
never had sufficient worm burdens to undertake a valid test.
This was the 19th Yardstick sire evaluation and is one of the longest active sites out
of 14 that have been run Australia wide under the auspices of the Australian Merino
Sire Evaluation Association (AMSEA) who set protocols for the evaluation and
supervise their running.
Yardstick 2016 and 2017 matings are currently at the Ridgefield University farm at
Pingelly and are held in conjunction with the AWI Merino Lifetime Productivity trial
where progeny will be run for their lifetime in order to study adult measurements.
It is hoped that there will be a 2018 mating for Yardstick and ram breeders are
encouraged to consider an entrant.
It needs to be explained that the results are for a single ram and those on display are
only Flock breeding values comparing only the sires entered. The results will in
future be subject to further analysis and comparisons and these results will be
entered in the annual publication “Merino Superior Sires” which allows broader
comparison with hundreds of sires. When ram breeders enter rams over time they
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obtain better information about the overall breeding value of their flock and obtain
information as to where their performance can be altered or improved.
The 2015 mated Yardstick is indebted to DAFWA personnel, in particular the farm
manager and staff and Meghan England (née Cornelius) who supervised the
programme.
Yardstick is run by the Federation of Performance Sheep Breeders WA (inc).
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Notes:
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Katanning Reference Flock
Johan Greeff
Johan has been involved in the sheep industries in both South Africa and in
Australia. He has been interested in the genetics of all production traits (wool,
growth, reproduction and disease resistance) in sheep. During the past 10 years he
has been managing the Genetic Resource (previous Information Nucleus Flock of
the Sheep CRC) and the Breech strike flock. These two flocks have made major
contributions in our knowledge of the inheritance of meat quality and disease
resistant traits. They have also contributed to the developing of genomic breeding
values for economically important traits that are hard and difficult to measure.
Introduction
One of the most tangible features of the Australian Sheep Cooperative Research
Centre (CRC) program has been the information nucleus flock (INF). This has
morphed into the Genetic Resource Flock which is now funded by Meat & Livestock
Australia (MLA). The Reference Flock (RF) is basically a progeny testing scheme
where progeny of selected industry sires are measured for a large range of traits,
most of them not commonly measured on commercials studs. The INF program has
three main objectives.
Obtain estimates of (quantitative) genetic parameters. These are heritabilities of new
traits and correlations (genetic and phenotypic) of these traits with existing
production traits as well as estimates of genotype by environment interactions.
Undertake genome association analysis, resulting in the ability to predict breeding
value based on genotypic information.
Enhance estimates of breeding values of animals in commercial studs. This refers to
increasing the accuracy of Australian sheep breeding values (ASBV) due to
additional information measured on relatives.
The accuracy of selection is dependent on the amount of information measured on
the progeny. It is not possible to measure carcass quality traits on live animals.
These traits are difficult and expensive to measure and are referred to as hard to
measure traits (html). These traits are generally difficult to improve, unless they have
strong and favourable correlations with traits that are easier to measure.
Traditionally, breeding programs have first used information from the ‘easy to
measure’ traits, but breeding objectives tend to become more sophisticated, with
more emphasis on health, and product quality. Thus this RF satisfies the need to
obtain more information on the “html” traits.
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Current design of the Reference flock
The Katanning RF consists of 1200 Merino, Border Leicester X Merino and Dorper
ewes. These ewes are inseminated with semen from leading industry sires for a wide
range of traits.
The progeny are raised together at Katanning and slaughtered at WAMMCO and
measured for carcass traits by Murdoch University.
Genomic association studies
DNA is also collected on all parents and progeny in the RF and tested with the Ovine
SNP chip. This SNP chip contains thousands of genetic markers that are linked to
specific genes. These DNA markers are used to predict the genetic performance of
sheep in industry flock that have not been measured. Industry can submit blood
cards through Sheep Genetics to be DNA tested and breeders will receive a
genomic breeding value for the traits of interest which will allow breeders to breed for
traits that they cannot measure on their own sheep.
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The Australian Wool Innovation Ltd Breech Strike
Resistance Project
Johan Greeff, John Karlsson (retired) and Tony Schlink (presenter)
Tony has been involved in the livestock industries in both southern and northern
Australia. He has a research interest in wool quality and has been involved with
Australian Wool Innovation (AWI) Breech Strike Resistance Project since 2009. He
was originally based at Mt Baker working with the breeding flock. Two years ago he
moved to the University of Western Australia to work on what attracts flies to sheep.
The Breeding for Breech Strike Resistance Project has been the most
comprehensive investigation into the underlying causes of breech strike on
unmulesed Merino sheep since the 1920s when Seddon showed how important
wrinkles are in increasing the susceptibility of sheep to breech strike.
Since the introduction of surgical mulesing in the late thirties the research focussed
on mulesing, and from the early fifties on the use of preventative jetting chemicals to
control flystrike. The high initial success rate of chemicals created a strong feeling
that mulesing along with chemicals, will be the permanent solution to the breech
strike problem. However, in the sixties and seventies it became clear that chemicals
won’t solve the problem as the blowfly developed resistance to the available
chemicals and concerns regarding residues increased. A number of insecticides with
different active ingredients have been developed but blowflies have eventually
developed some level of resistance to all of them. With the endeavour to phase out
mulesing, all this confirms that breeding is an important long term permanent
solution to breech strike.
This project has clearly identified that flocks in Mediterranean regions with lower
levels of dags, less wrinkles, less urine stain and lower breech cover will be less
prone to be struck by flies. These factors can be managed through strategic
crutching and to some extent by improved worm control. However, these husbandry
techniques are labour intensive and costly and alternative strategies are needed to
develop low input, easy care production systems with the extra bonus of clean and
green.
The main findings from this breech strike genetics experiment to date is that large
differences exist between sire progeny groups and that some sires’ progeny are
naturally very resistant to breech strike. Although wrinkle is an important indicator
trait of breech strike (especially in low dag country), the results expelled the general
myth that breeding plain-bodied sheep will solve all breech strike problems. We have
found that some plain-bodied sheep can be more susceptible to breech strike than
“normal” Merinos. Dags and urine stain are more important than wrinkles or breech
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cover in uncrutched sheep, but under a crutching regime, wrinkles are the most
important factor making sheep susceptible to being struck.
We also showed that odour from sheep plays an important role in attracting or
repelling blowflies. Our work with sniffer dogs trained by Hanrob Dog Academy in
Sydney has clearly shown that dogs can differentiate very successfully between wool
from resistant and susceptible lines (from sheep that have not been struck for at
least 18 months). AWI is currently funding an investigation into the chemical
compounds that cause the differences in odour with the University of Western
Australia. The odour project is only in its initial stage but encouraging results have
been found which support the outcomes found with the sniffer dogs of differences
between resistant and susceptible sheep. This work is likely to lead to potential
commercial outcomes for woolgrowers.
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DAFWA and UWA Joining Forces to Solve the Winter Dag
Problem
Graeme Martin
Graeme grew up on a sheep and wheat farm in the shire of Victoria Plains. He
gained a degree in Agricultural Science and a PhD from The University of Western
Australia (UWA), and then worked for two years in France and three years in
Scotland before returning to Australia to a joint position with CSIRO and UWA. He
moved full-time to the university in the 1990s and became full professor in 2001.
Graeme is also leader of ‘UWA Future Farm 2050’, a major project that is focused on
the greatest issue facing humanity – the need to feed 50% more people without
destroying the planet. This project also aims to make positive contributions to the
local, state, national and international rural communities.
The DAFWA-UWA Project
The Australian sheep industry loses $600m pa because gastro-intestinal worms
reduce productivity and also cause diarrhoea that attracts blowflies, leading to
flystrike. To make matters worse, the worms develop resistance to drenches and the
use of mulesing to avoid flystrike is no longer acceptable.
Johan Greeff and John Karlsson of DAFWA tackled the worm-fly problem on two
fronts: 1) Breeding sheep that are resistant to flystrike; 2) Breeding sheep that are
resistant to worms. DAFWA and UWA have now joined forces, and also set up a
partnership with Curtin University, to take the next step towards realization of the
project goals and uptake of the technology by industry. The latest on flystrike
resistance will be presented by Tony Schlink. The plans for the worm resistance
project will be presented by Graeme Martin.
Breeding worm-resistant sheep is very effective, but some resistant animals still
develop diarrhoea because they have an allergic reaction (‘hypersensitivity’) to the
small numbers of worms that persist in their gut. They are therefore still susceptible
to flystrike. Our plan is to look into the immune system of the sheep and find the
cells, molecules and genes that cause the allergic response. We will then be in a
position to identify hypersensitive animals early in life and breed simultaneously for
resistance to both worms and diarrhoea.
The “winter dag” project is ‘clean’ because it avoids the use of drenches (that don’t
work anyway) and ‘ethical’ because the goal is to make ‘mulesing’ irrelevant.
The outcome for industry will be a major reduction in costs, leading to greater
profitability, and far better animal welfare so the animals are more productive.
Moreover, the image of our industry in the marketplace will be greatly improved,
helping to guarantee exports of wool and sheepmeat long into the future.
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Notes:
20
Running the ruler over lamb in 2017 – the future of Lean
Meat Yield analysis
Steve Connaughton
Steve Connaughton graduated from Murdoch University in 2011 as a veterinarian,
and proceeded to work in general practice for two years in Canberra. He then spent
12 months in the UK, also practicing as a mixed animal veterinarian, before returning
to Australia to undertake research back at Murdoch University. Steve’s PhD began in
early 2016, and is looking in to the calibration and standardisation of DEXA
technology for assessing carcass composition of lambs. His favourite way to eat
lamb is a leg over a coal spit, seasoned with garlic and rosemary.
Currently, the lamb industry does not have a standard for assessing carcass
composition, and thus lean meat yield; and the carcass data producers will typically
be given back is only hot carcass weight, and occasionally the fat score of the
carcass. Fat scoring will sometimes be used in processing plants to determine the
price paid to producers for a carcass of a given weight – with score 1 (very lean) and
5 (very fat) being less desirable. The most common method for assessing fat score
is through GR (grade rule) palpation.
This method of determining body composition is incredibly imprecise, with one study
showing that - when operating at chain speed – operators responsible for palpating
and determining fat score were measuring at the incorrect rib 70% of the time.
Additionally, this form of measurement for determining lean meat yield is a single-
point measure, meaning that the entire carcass composition is extrapolated from
only one location. Such a measurement is wide open to biases between different
breeds, sexes and age. A better measure of lean meat yield is one that measures
the entire carcass in a single assessment.
Source www.makingmorefromsheep.com.au
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Dual Energy X-ray Absorptiometry (DEXA) is such a form
of imaging, using x-rays to determine the amount of fat,
lean muscle and bone within the whole lamb carcass. By
using two different types of x-rays, two images can be
created and subsequently compared via a computer,
determining the amount of fat and lean muscle by the level
of difference in the images.
This mode of carcass assessment has so far proven to be
far superior to existing techniques – with the added
advantage of being able to operate at chain-speed in an
abattoir. With this leap forward in technology, both
processors and producers will see the benefit of more
accurate and precise carcass measurements. Producers,
for example, will have access to a wealth of feedback
information about each lamb that is sent through the
abattoir, allowing them to make future genetic and
management decisions for their flock. This has the potential
to vastly improve the nation’s flock – maximising returns for
both producers and processors, while ensuring that the
highest quality lamb is reaching the optimal markets.
High Energy DEXA image of a carcass
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We like our meat red! Demonstration of packaging options
to optimise colour at retail & colour measurement
technology
Maddison Corlett
[email protected] Maddison is undertaking a PhD at Murdoch University, graduating with a Bachelor’s
degree in Animal Science with first class honours from Murdoch University in 2015.
Maddison’s area of special focus was reducing methane yield from sheep by feeding
the legume biserrula and received a number of awards based on this research. She
is now continuing her passion for agricultural research by undertaking a PhD at
Murdoch University. The research is funded and led by the Sheep Cooperative
Research Centre, an industry body with a focus on tangible outcomes for each
stakeholder in the supply chain. The focus of her research is unveiling consumer
perceptions towards the colour of lamb meat, with actual consumers assessing meat
and providing their opinion on the colour.
Research topic
Meat colour is a very important quality which consumers base their purchasing
decision on at the time of purchase. In Australia, lamb products have a retail shelf-
life of approximately 48 hours when displayed in traditional overwrap packaging
(Calnan, et al. 2014; Jacob, et al. 2007). After this period, they are discounted or
minced (Liu, et al. 1995; Troy and Kerry 2010). This common practice of discounting
lamb products represents a major economic loss to the Australian lamb industry
which needs to be reduced. One of the ways to do this is to identify consumer
responses to meat colour and compare this to objective measures of meat colour
using Hunterlab, Minolta or Nix instruments. The outcome of this work will be
focused on determining if one of these devices can instrumentally measure the
colour of the meat and accurately predict if the colour is unacceptable and needs to
be discounted, or determine if the meat product has ‘more time’ before it needs to be
discounted. There are also indications that suggest that consumer attitudes to meat
colour have recently changed, and that the modern consumer’s response to meat
colour is also affected by the packaging method. Along with the traditional
overwrapping packaging, there are now other relatively new alternate packaging
systems adopted by meat industry including modified atmosphere packaging, and
vacuum skin packaging which can extend the retail shelf life of meat. The growing
adoptions of these alternate packaging methods means further research is needed
to investigate the effects of packaging type on meat colour and eating quality. The
relationship of packaging type on meat colour and eating quality has received recent
research in beef yet remains limited in lamb or sheep meat.
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This work will provide industry benefit to see if objective instrumental measures can
reflect consumer perceptions of meat colour in lamb and if consumer perceptions
have changed over time. This would decrease the amount of lamb product
discounted or minced prematurely when the colour is still red and appealing to
consumers. This creates an opportunity for real-time prediction of meat colour
acceptability when on retail display or abattoir prediction for how long the meat
product can be on display before become unacceptable in colour. Comparing the
Hunterlab, Minolta and Nix will enable the comparison of multiple machines, and
identify if one or more machines are better at detecting or predicting certain
consumer perceptions.
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Eat the Lot - demonstration of cut by cook effect on sheep
eating quality
Dr Liselotte Pannier - Post-Doctoral Fellow
Rachel O’Reilly - PhD Candidate
[email protected] [email protected] Liselotte successfully completed a PhD in Ireland, Dublin, through University College
of Dublin and the Ashtown Food Research Centre (Teagasc). Her PhD focussed on
genetic markers in candidate genes and meat quality traits in beef. Since then
Liselotte has been a researcher at Murdoch University for over 8 years under the
Australian Cooperative Research Centre for Sheep Industry Innovation. Her
research is mainly focused around consumer sheep meat eating quality and recently
she has been coordinating international eating quality studies taking place in
Australia, China and America to understand consumer perceptions in those 3
consumer groups. Furthermore, her research is also focussed around intramuscular
fat and nutritional traits (iron, zinc, FA’s) in sheep meat.
Rachel successfully completed a Bachelor of Animal Bioscience with First Class
Honours at Sydney University in 2012. Her Honours research involved assessing
knowledge, attitudes and practices of smallholder cattle farmers in rural Cambodia to
determine the effectiveness of participatory based intervention programs. Having a
keen interest in agri-industries, she joined the NSW Department of Primary
Industries graduate program in 2013 gaining experience in animal biosecurity policy,
vertebrate pest research, microbiological disease and diagnostics, and red meat
research and development. Rachel commenced her doctorate in philosophy in 2015,
investigating the differences in international consumer sensory perceptions of
Australian prime lamb, a project involving China, USA, and Australia.
Lamb and Sheep Meat Standards Australia (MSA) model
Lamb consumption declined in Australia in the 90’s with inconsistent products
reaching the supermarket shelf. To maintain strong consumer demand and improve
sheep meat quality, research was undertaken to identify critical control points for
eating quality in the sheep meat supply chain. From this research a MSA sensory
protocol for sheep was developed adapted from that in beef, taking into account the
smaller cuts found in lamb and sheep.
Currently the sheep MSA program requires entire supply chain compliance with
guidelines for best practice including feed management, handling, curfew, slaughter,
product aging and retail presentation. The details are publically available on the Meat
and Livestock Australia website. The process has been shown to successfully
reduce the variation in sheep meat tenderness. While successful in improving eating
quality, the program has been mob based and lacked individual carcass grading, and
27
cut by cooking method grading. As such, the lamb and sheep meat model is
currently being extended into a cuts-based system similar to the beef MSA model.
With knowledge of breed type, carcass weight, a measure of lean meat yield, and
intramuscular fat, an even greater reduction in the variance in eating quality for loin
and topside cuts can be achieved.
International Consumer Perceptions of Australian Sheep Meat
The USA and China are Australia’s
most valuable export markets for
frozen and chilled sheep meat
products. As such, untrained
consumer taste panels utilising MSA
protocols have recently been carried
out in these key international
markets. Preliminary findings indicate
it may be a suitable tool to predict
Australian lamb and sheep meat
eating quality for the two international
consumer groups. Eating quality or
palatability of sheep meat is
described by tenderness, juiciness,
flavour liking, and overall liking.
Results of consumer taste panels
show overall liking of Australian lamb
and yearling meat rated very highly,
with Chinese, American and
Australian consumers in agreement.
Similarly, the perceived juiciness of
loin and topsides were similar for all
consumer groups. Chinese
consumers expressed significantly
lower mean tenderness scores,
however these lower eating quality
estimates likely reflect their
inexperience with the “western” style
cooking method of the grill.
Greater insights into these key export markets will assist the Western Australian
sheep industry to tailor products and marketing strategies, ensuring product
sustainability into the future.
Samples for consumer taste panels
Chinese consumers tasting Australian sheep meat
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Notes:
29
Chaos on the Maternity Ward: Can optimising lambing
density minimise mismothering and improve lamb
survival?
Amy Lockwood
[email protected] Amy is a PhD student at Murdoch University. Amy’s research is investigating the
effects of lambing density on ewe-lamb behaviour and lamb survival.
Marking rate is an important driver
of profitability for sheep enterprises.
Lamb mortalities are estimated to
cost the Australian sheep industry
$540 million per year (Lane et al
2015). Hence, the Australian sheep
industry aims to increase marking
rate by 5% over the next three
years. Improving the survival of
twins is a priority for the industry
given the mortality of twins is
typically double that of singles and
improving the survival of twins is
likely to have the greatest economic
pay-off compared to improving other
aspects of the reproductive process.
Very little is known about the effects of mob size, stocking rate and therefore lambing
density on lamb survival. A survey of sheep producers by the BestWool BestLamb
program showed that for each additional 100 twin-bearing ewes in the mob at
lambing, lamb survival decreased by 3.5% (Figure; Lockwood et al submitted). Lamb
survival also decreased by 0.7% for each additional ewe per hectare, regardless of
birth type. The existing guidelines of 100 to 250 twin-bearing adult ewes per mob at
lambing could therefore represent a range in marking rate for twin-bearing mobs of
at least 10%.
The National Lambing Density Project, supported by Australian Wool Innovation,
Meat & Livestock Australia and partnering organisations, is currently quantifying the
effects of mob size and stocking rate on the survival of twin-born Merino or maternal
lambs to marking. The research will occur at a total of 70 demonstration sites across
Western Australia, South Australia, Victoria and New South Wales during 2016 and
2017. In addition, the project is engaging producers who pregnancy scan for
multiples to provide marking data for individual mobs of single or twin bearing ewes.
The data collected will aid in understanding the effects of lambing density across a
broad range of environmental and management conditions in southern Australia.
50
55
60
65
70
75
80
85
90
0 100 200 300 400 500
Lam
b s
urv
ival
(%
)
Mob size
Figure 1 The effect of increasing the mob size of twin-bearing ewes at a stocking rate of 8 ewes/ha on lamb survival (Lockwood et al unpublished)
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In addition to the National Lambing Density project, further experimental work is also
providing an understanding of the associations between lambing density, ewe-lamb
and flock behaviour, and lamb survival. This work aims to understand whether higher
lambing densities are associated with a greater risk of disturbance at lambing from
other lambing ewes or newborn lambs and whether this subsequently increases the
risk of mismothering, ewe-lamb separations and lamb mortality. Research will also
be undertaken this year to investigate the interactions between mob size and feed-
on-offer to determine whether the effects of mob size are amplified when pasture is
limiting. The research is utilising new sensor technology to assist in understanding
ewe-lamb and flock interactions during lambing. Overall the lambing density
research aims to contribute to the development of guidelines for producers on mob
size and stocking rate at lambing in order to improve lamb survival and marking
rates.
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Notes:
32
Labour or love? Labour saving technologies that allow a
life off farm
John Paul Collins, DAFWA Katanning
[email protected] John Paul (JP) has worked for DAFWA in Katanning for the past 15 years. During
this time JP has worked in saltland pastures, application of precision agriculture to
cropping, local extension and now in the integration of new on-farm technology into
sheep enterprises. JP’s passion has always been in sheep, learning a lot from Dad,
who was a woolgrower for over 50 years. JP work’s with a pilot group of young,
passionate and tech – savvy sheep producers who either have tried or are testing
many labour saving tools on their own properties for our case studies. The overall
finding is that sheep don’t need to be labour-intensive or hard work, as there are
many tools available to make it easier to run sheep.
Background
For many passionate sheep producers, the time spent working with their sheep is a
‘labour of love’. However, access to quality labour is a constraint in expanding their
sheep enterprise and juggling the competing demands with cropping. There are
opportunities to explore how more sheep can be run with either the same number or
less labour units. The aim of the new on-farm technology activity is to explore how
commercially available technology can be integrated into a sheep enterprise, to
improve labour efficiency, enable better breeding and improve traceability. We are
also exploring blue-sky technology that will have the potential to transform the WA
sheep industry.
Connectivity
On-farm connectivity is a key starting point when investing in any technology. First,
mobile phone reception is a key consideration and if there is limited or no reception
then options should be considered. At the Katanning Research Facility (KRF), we
have installed mobile phone signal boosters at strategic locations to amplify the
mobile signal. Second, access to reliable internet through WIFI coverage is important
when investing in technology. This is important for software updates, access to
training videos and live support via remote desktop access. We are currently
exploring opportunities at the KRF to further improve WIFI access at key locations as
part of our overall investment into technology.
Remote monitoring
For sheep farms that are fragmented and require a high labour expense to check
troughs and tanks on remote properties, investment into remote cameras is a
worthwhile expense. The cameras operate on a time schedule, are plug-and-play
and rely on access to the mobile phone network to take an image of a tank or trough
and send it to the cloud, for viewing on your device. We recently conducted a
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benefit-cost analysis on a sheep producer who had invested in cameras. Previously,
he would drive 300-400 km every 2-3 days to inspect troughs. After purchasing the
cameras, this has reduced his time spent physically checking troughs and he has re-
allocated this labour to other parts of the sheep enterprise. For every dollar invested,
he is saving $5.30 in both labour and vehicle costs and has paid for the cameras
within 2 years. Further information is available in a feature article we have available
on the DAFWA website.
Sheep handlers
There are a large range of commercially available handlers which are designed to
restrain sheep whilst husbandry tasks such as drenching, vaccinating or backlining
can be performed. These handlers offer several benefits. First, there is an
improvement in occupational health and safety and reduced risk of fatigue and injury.
This translates to greater enthusiasm to perform routine husbandry tasks in a timely
manner. Staff can also be more productive the following day if they are not worn out.
Second, there can be real savings in time and labour if more than one husbandry
task can be performed whilst the sheep is in the handler. For example, a lamb at
weaning can be given its required needles, drench and flystrike treatment all at once
whilst in the handler. Third, there is a benefit to giving an opportune bunghole crutch
if it is required, or collect a weight which can be used to improve management.
Whilst these tasks can be done without a handler, these facilities are often
incorporated into many handlers and they can be done without an additional
expense in labour.
Our early analysis of the role a sheep handler plays in a sheep enterprise is that
often the savings in labour units or throughput are not high. Further, for a handler to
be a useful labour-saving tool it needs to be properly incorporated into the sheep
yards with an adequate inflow that is conducive to sheep flow. Finally, there are
some very real and practical benefits in reducing fatigue and improving safety for
farm workers. More information will be made available on the new on-farm
technology webpage as it comes to hand.
Summary
Sheep work doesn’t need to be hard or difficult. We are looking at a whole suite of
labour saving tools such as remote cameras, laneways, automated jetting races, use
of electronic eartags in a pedigree matchmaker system to determine pedigree and
sheep handlers. These case studies will all be supported by a benefit-cost analysis.
Future case studies will focus on electronic identification, sheepyard design and on-
farm connectivity. With the improvement in sensor technology, there will be future
opportunities to collect information from sheep via sensors such as dam pedigree,
movement patterns and location. Once technology is integrated into a sheep
enterprise and is providing real benefits in reducing labour requirements, there are
opportunities for running sheep to be less about ‘love’ and more about profitability
and providing value-adding opportunities for grain that is grown on the farm.
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Notes:
35
The good gas on methane: Live demonstration of gas
measures
Phil Vercoe
[email protected] Phil is a professor at The University of Western Australia and Associate Director of
its Institute of Agriculture. Phil did my Bachelor of Rural Science degree and PhD at
UNE, where he specialised in the molecular biology of ruminal microbes and the
regulation of cellulase gene expression. Phil has over 25 years’ experience in
animal production systems where he has always had an interest in linking rumen
microbiology, nutrition and genetics. For the last 10 years the focus of Phil’s
research has been in finding practical ways to reduce methane emissions from
ruminants that improve profitability and the perception of the industry. Phil has led
national, multi-institutional, and collaborated with DAFWA and Murdoch University in
projects investigating nutritional (bioactive supplements), improved feedbase and
genetic approaches to reducing methane. Phil also led the Rumen Pangenome
Program (RPP) the aim of which was to provide high quality data that could be used
to deliver a comprehensive understanding of animal genotype x rumen environment
x management interactions that determine methane emissions. Phil has a strong
drive to create a collaborative rather than competitive environment amongst WA
researchers in agriculture, because he thinks the sky is the limit if we do. A critical
part of reaching the sky is having a strong partnership and trust between researchers
and producers.
Why all the fuss about methane and why should we give a stuff, or should that be a
belch? By 2050 it’s been estimated that the demand for meat and milk from
ruminants will be 60-70% more than it is in 2017. Production from ruminants in
dryland areas is expected to play an important role in responding to this challenge,
particularly as the competition for grain for human consumption and biofuel
production becomes greater and consumers are demanding products to be ‘Clean,
Green and Ethical’. What a huge opportunity for Australia’s extensive grazing
industries if we play our cards right. However, the role of ruminants in meeting
global food demand has become controversial because some are concerned about
the environmental footprint of the livestock sector, a lot of which is based on
estimates that the methane they burp accounts for 10% of Australia’s greenhouse-
gas emissions and 14-16% of human-induced greenhouse-gas emissions globally.
From a productivity perspective methane is a waste product of the fermentation in
the rumen and an energy loss to the animal. When cattle and sheep digest feed,
between 2-10% of the feed energy they consume is lost in the form of methane gas.
So the good gas on methane is that we gain multiple benefits if we reduce the
amount it cattle and sheep emit; the animal captures and can make more use of the
36
energy in feed, we reduce the sectors contribution to our national emissions, and we
address one of the issues consumers of our products have.
What makes a ruminant a ruminant is the large fermentation vat that sits at the ‘front
end’ of its digestive tract (the rumen). This large vat harbours a microbial soup that
has a mutually beneficial relationship with the animal. The animal delivers feed to the
microbes on a regular basis and they ferment the feed, which is the only reason the
animal can consume and extract nutrients for production from diets that are high in
cellulose (fibre). That fermentation provides the animal with its energy and protein
needs, but it also results in some inefficiencies and waste products, one of which is
methane. Since 2009 there has been a major investment nationally by the Federal
government, R&D organisations, Universities, State Government Departments,
CSIRO and private companies to find innovative solutions to reduce emissions from
ruminants in Australia. The University of Western Australia, Murdoch University and
DAFWA have collaborated together and with other institutions around Australia to
make a significant contribution to this national programme. There have been 4 main
targets for the research: 1) targeting the animal genetics; 2) targeting the feedbase;
3) targeting the rumen microbial population; and 4) targeting the interaction between
genotype, environment and management (GxExM). There was also an underlying
programme across all these targets that was focused on developing new methods to
measure methane from individual animals more easily for breeding purposes
(demonstrated at Open Day) and from grazing animals. I’ll provide a snap shot of
some of the key findings in this programme including; the heritability of methane
emissions, improving feed efficiency, the differences in methane produced from
different plant species and the scope for making better choices, and plants and
compounds that specifically target the methane producing bugs in the rumen, all of
which highlight the contribution WA institutions have made to the national effort.
Figure 1 Methane being measured in animals using the portable accumulation chambers or ‘butterboxes’
Figure 2 Grazing systems including Australian native shrubs
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Notes:
38
EweTube: let Siri do the sheepwork!
Beth Paganoni
[email protected] Beth is a Research Officer for the livestock industry, working to increase the
reproduction and performance of Western Australia’s sheep flock. Currently Beth is
involved in the application of movement sensors to measure proximity, interactions,
location and behaviours of sheep.
Increasing the adoption of genetic technologies (using sensors) will increase the rate
of genetic gain in our state flock, assisting our efforts to double the value of the
sheep industry by 2025.
How Siri’s sensors and the iPhone have changed the world: 1. Touch screen/no hard keyboard 2. Software distribution/jailbreaking 3. Addicted the world to motion and orientation sensors!
Apple’s accelerometer in the original iPhone was something of an exotic novelty to
many users. Current models have accelerometer, gyroscope and compass.
So what does this mean for sheep production?
It means we have the opportunity to apply these sensor functions to livestock. For example, we have already been using the Bluetooth function of sensors to detect the rear type and dam pedigree of lambs.
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Rear type and pedigree information are important for the sheep industry to improve
reportable breeding values for reproductive traits. Current techniques of collecting
rear type information are expensive, such as blood sampling for DNA and labour
expensive, such as mothering-up lambs to ewes at birth. Using sensors to match up
lambs to ewes is a novel technique that could reduce labour expenses.
We tested this technique on 976 lambs from the Breech-Strike flock at Katanning.
The sensors determined the same dam as mothering up for 941 of the 976 lambs
(97%). Only seven lambs had different dams identified by the sensors compared to
the mothering-up technique (<1%). The other 2% had no dam identified by the
sensors, indicating minimal interactions. Blood samples for DNA have been collected
from all the ewes and lambs and will soon be analysed to compare the accuracy of
the three techniques (sensors vs mothering up vs DNA).
Think blue sky….big screen…..cloud farming…ALERTS!
The proximity function is just one small part of
what Siri’s sensors can do. In fact there is a
smorgasbord of other potential applications that
we are investigating, such as location, activity
and movements. Imagine the possibilities!
EweView is Simply Smart Sheep Farming – Our design allows you to get the sheep husbandry hints you love even quicker than before and our new features make sheep work easy. We’re finding better ways for sheep to move and thrive. Download the app and get a truck to the yards in minutes. Or become a driver, move your flock onto more feed and earn money on your improved growth rates and schedule. With all the new software support systems being marketed such as Sapien, AgriWeb, Koolnote, etc. Imagine if these programs could tell you how many sheep were in each paddock, rather than you having to enter that information. Movement monitoring of sheep in real-time is not far away. Now that’s the kind of EweTube I’d like to watch!
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Contact
Postal: Locked Bag 4, Bentley Delivery Centre WA 6983
Street address: 3 Baron-Hay Court, South Perth WA 6151
Web: agric.wa.gov.au
Email: [email protected]
Telephone: +61 (0)8 9892 8450
Copyright © Western Australian Agriculture Authority, 2016
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Important disclaimer
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