Lean Meat Yield / Eating Quality

20 “proof of concept” producer demonstration sites have been set up across Australia by Meat & Livestock Australia to trial, on-farm, the efficacy of research breeding values (RBVs) for lean meat yield and eating quality.  The project aims to demonstrate that the RBVs for LMY (lean meat yield), tenderness (SF5) & IMF (intra muscular fat) can be translated through the lamb supply chain therefore allowing selection of sires for desirable eating quality traits.

Monaro Farming Systems was asked to manage a demonstration site near Bombala, on Brad and Lauren Yelds property “Greenlake”.

On Greenlake, eight (8) group’s of forty (40) crossbred ewes were artificially inseminated with semen from eight (8) different terminal sires.  Pregnancy showed conception rates ranging from 49% to 72% across the eight (8) groups of ewes with a high percentage of twins.  The potential lambs out of 317 ewes was 307.  Lambing commenced on the 20th August and the lambs were blood typed at marking to identify parentage.

All lambs in this trial were slaughtered at Cootamundra abattoir during January 2014 (target live weight >40kg) and carcass measurements taken.

Results found measurable differences between sires in progeny carcass traits and positive relationships between progeny carcass traits and sire RBVs for terminal lamb;

  • a 1kg increase in sire RBV translates to a 260g increase in average progeny HCWT (hot carcass weight)
  • a 1% increase in sire RBV translates to an 0.57% increase in average progeny IMF (intramuscular fat)
  • a 1mm increase in sire RBV translates to a 0.7 mm increase in average progeny carcass fat (cfat)
  • a 1 mm increase in sire RBV translates to a 0.5 mm increase in average progeny CEMD (carcass eye muscle diameter)
  • a 1% increase in sire RBV translates to an 0.31% increase in average progeny LMY (lean meat yield)

Project Funder:  Meat & Livestock Australia
Project Collaborator: MFS, Brad and Lauren Yelds

Final Report