A successful Charollais Sale for performance recorded breeders

There was a great selection of performance recorded Charollais rams on sale at the Premier Sale at Worcester. 43% of the rams on offer were performance recorded and were well represented in the top prices; four of the top five prices were for performance recorded rams.  Rams in the sale had an average index in the top 25% of the breed, allowing a great choice for buyers to progress the genetics of their flocks.

Breeders that performance record their flocks with Signet, record their animal’s pedigree and performance including weights, ultrasound measurements and carcase traits from CT scanning. This data is evaluated monthly in a multi-breed analysis, which calculates Estimated Breeding Values (EBVs) for the measured traits. The Index combines these EBVs to show the sheep with the best overall genetic merit.

There were several very high genetic merit rams on offer at the sale. Ram lambs ranked third (21PE09571) and eleventh (21XXJ00983) in the breed based on genetic merit were on sale, selling for £6,510 and £6,300 respectively. Performance recorded rams achieved a large premium of over £1,100 per head when compared to non-performance recorded rams and were well above the sale average of £1815.

The demand for rams with high genetic merit reflected in the clearance rates, sheep in the top 5% of the breed achieving a 100% clearance rate. As the Index of rams dropped, so too did the clearance rates of the rams.

Performance recording your flock can help you to add value to your flock and help you market your sheep based on their genetics. Recording your flock is easy and only requires two weights and the option to ultrasound scan and CT scan lambs to assess carcase quality. To record your flock please contact Signet or visit our website https://www.signetdata.com/technical/sheep-recording/ .