Shrophire Rams go 'on trial' at Walford College

One of Britain's oldest, traditional breeds of sheep is to be evaluated as a terminal sire for cross-bred lamb production at Walford and North Shropshire College.

In a trial that has just commenced at the College, Shropshire rams are being used alongside Charollais tups on a flock of Lleyn ewes. This is the first time that Shropshires have been compared with a Continental breed for commercial lamb production in an independent study.

Commenting on the trial, Adrian Joynt, farm manager at Walford and North Shropshire College said: "Following the recent changes in the CAP, the need to produce high quality lambs that finish without expensive supplementary feed, but still produce the carcass quality the market requires, is paramount The Shropshire was developed in this region, so it should suit the local conditions. The Shropshire Sheep Breeders' Association says Shropshire lambs finish successfully on grass and produce a good carcass, so the trial will be a timely assessment of the breed.

"In order to fully evaluate the cross-bred progeny from both breeds of ram, we will sell all the lambs direct to a local abattoir, rather than through a livestock market. We will then obtain feedback on lamb carcass grades for conformation and fat class. This, combined with other data about feed use and growth rates, should reveal the relative merit of each breed of tup used."

Two Shropshire rams were delivered to Walford and North Shropshire College near Shrewsbury, in September. They are now running with around 65 Lleyn ewes from the College's commercially-managed flock. Two Charollais tups are running with an equal number of Lleyns, with the females for the tupping groups having been selected at random. The two groups of ewes will be managed in exactly the same way up to lambing.

All cross-bred lambs will be tagged individually at birth and records will be kept of the lambing date, lambing difficulty and the sex of the lambs. All lambs will be managed in the same way until they reach slaughter weight at the target level of finish. Results of the trial are expected in the winter of 2006.

The ram trial has the full backing of the Shropshire Sheep Breeders' Association, as breed society secretary, Pippa Geddes, explains: "Members of the SSBA are delighted that the trial is going ahead, because it gives Shropshires the chance to prove that they can deliver what the market wants.

"The Shropshire was developed as a supreme meat breed, and in its heyday it was exported all over the world for crossing with the indigenous sheep to improve lamb quality. Our members have worked hard to retain the important commercial growth and carcass traits that are essential for terminal sires."