Sheep Agriculture

The LRP-Lamb price index ended the week at $110.42 per cwt. This is down $1.69 from last week’s index of $112.11.

LRP-Lamb insurance price forecasts expiring June 14, 2013 were as follows:

The effective floor prices offered by LRP-Lamb coverage for expiring policies were as follows:

The expiring 39-week policies provided an indemnity payment at all four of the offered coverage levels 95%, 90%, 85%, and 80% with the effective floor prices in effect and providing protection ranging from $34.689 per cwt. to $17.377 per cwt. after premium payment deductions.

The expiring 26-week policy provided a small indemnity of $0.30 per cwt. at the 95% coverage level but not enough to cover the premium payment.

LRP-Lamb price insurance coverage offered on 17 June 2013 is as follows:

Expected Ending Value for 9/16/2013 is $96.56, up $4.83 from last week’s expected ending value for 9/9/2013.

Expected Ending Value for 11/4/2013 is $97.24, up $7.18 from last week’s expected ending value for 10/28/2013.

Expected Ending Value for 12/16/2013 is $89.74, up $8.32 from last week’s expected ending value for 12/9/2013.

Expected Ending Value for 3/17/2014 is $116.62, up $6.16 from last week’s expected ending value for 3/10/2014.

Current research programs in Wales on sheep genetic improvement could help reduce methane emissions by 0.08% per year.

“Increasing ewe litter size and longevity by genetic improvement over 10 years could reduce methane emissions by 8.8% and 3.8%, respectively. Lamb weights also have the potential to increase by 0.8 kg and reduce days to finish a lamb by six days, which in turn could reduce methane emissions by 0.5% per tonne of carcass,” says Dr. Catherine Nakielny of KN Consulting who has been working on developing a model to predict changes in methane emissions by genetic improvements in the Welsh flock.

To access the full article by Sarah Trickett (Farmers Weekly Interactive, 11/10/2011), click here.

The National Center for Foreign Animal Disease Defense (FAZD Center)’s primary goal is to prevent disease outbreaks and their spread. Along with maintaining illness rates on livestock operations, the group works to help producers keep livestock illnesses from spreading to humans.

After estimating that more than half of all disease-causing germs found in people originate from animals, the FAZD Center created species-specific groups to spread advice on ways to minimize bacterial transfer. The groups are known as Species Specific Educational Resource Teams (SSERT).

The small ruminant SSERT created voluntary guidelines for producers to consider as follows:

PREVENT DISEASES FROM ENTERING THE HERD

• Test existing breeding stock and newly purchased animals for certain diseases such as: Caseous Lymphadenitis (CL) sheep and goats, Caprine Arthritis-Encephalitis (CAE) in goats and Chlamydiosis in sheep and goats.

• Test other animals like cattle, llamas and alpacas for contagious diseases when kept with sheep and goats.

• Vaccinate healthy animals for potential harmful and contagious diseases.

• Use a clean needle for each animal when giving shots.

• Restrict access of visitors to barns, pastures and lambing/kidding pens.

• Use disposable shoe covers for all farm visitors.

• Minimize traffic and disinfect trucks and automobiles entering the operation.

• Quarantine new animals and animals returning from a livestock show for at least two weeks.

• Do not feed livestock on the ground; use troughs or hay racks.

• Purchase animals from disease-free herds with solid records.

• Do not buy animals with signs of abscesses or poor body condition.

To access the full article by Jeffrey Hoffelt (Agri-View, 11/23/2011), click here.

Lamb death rates average about 15% in the UK – something which could be slashed by better feeding of ewes in late pregnancy, according to recent trials. 

John Vipond, senior sheep specialist at the Scottish Agricultural College, is convinced that changing the formulation of ewe rations could dramatically improve flock productivity.  Read more…

Olivia Cooper, Farmers Weekly Interactive, 11/21/2011

Stock agent and farmer leaders believe there needs to be national agreement on an electronic identification system for sheep, before states introduce their own programs. Australian Livestock and Property Agents Association chief executive officer Andy Madigan said ALPA believed for any National Livestock Identification System to be effective “it must be nationally consistent with national implementation, not a phased in system at the states discretion as it is now.”   Read more…
Stock & Land, 9/5/2011

It appears that Canada’s sheep industry is turning around.

Canada’s ewe flock has steadily declined from close to one million head in 2005 to just over 800,000 in 2011, but recent increases in global demand coupled with high prices are prompting a push for greater industry productivity and innovation.

Alberta Agriculture launched a series of initiatives to help producers “build better lambs” including a current pilot project that provides electronic feedback on carcass data from processor to producer. The project hit resistance with RFID tags that cost $3 to $5 but newly approved tags at a price of $1.65 resulted in a tremendous industry uptake.

(read more …)

The 1,900 sheep producers in Alberta, Canada will be eligible for a total of $900,000 in incentive payments over the next two years for tagging their lambs with Canadian Sheep Identification Program (CSIP)-approved radio-frequency identification (RFID) tags. The program provides for a $3 per tag reimbursement for lambs born and tagged between December 2010 and November 2012.

The program is funded by Alberta’s $15 million Age-Verification Incentive Program to encourage the use of RFID tags in the province’s sheep industry.

The CSIP is a mandatory program that began in January of 2004. It currently only requires a CSIP-approved visual tag be applied to the animal before it leaves its flock of origin. However, the Canadian sheep industry appears committed to developing a national traceability system with value-added benefits for the producer.

Significant value-added benefits can only be realized through a modern electronics based identification system that allows for the full real-time utilization of information a good identification system can provide. This latest announcement is continuing verification that the Canadian sheep industry is committed to making this a reality for the Canada’s agriculture producers.

Sources for this post:

Zaccagna, Remo. “New traceability program for sheep, elk producers introduced.” Daily Herald Tribune. Grand Prairie, Alberta, Canada. Article ID#2993124. Accessed at http://www.dailyheraldtribune.com/ArticleDisplay.aspx?e=2993124 on March 10, 2011.

Canadian Sheep Federation 

Canadian Sheep Identification Program 

http://cansheep.ca/cms/en/Programs/CSIProgram/CSIProgram.aspx