In response to an article I wrote
a month or so ago regarding the eating quality of our lamb, it was suggested that if we stopped killing
and processing ram lambs, then this would go a long way to sorting this issue.
The same person did acknowledge
that the Meat companies have carried out taste tests to satisfy themselves to
the contrary (but she “questions those results”). I understand that a few years ago Alliance
undertook significant research in this regard and found there was no
difference.
Where do I stand on this? As a pragmatic farmer applying a common sense
approach view to this question, for me it simply comes down to the age and maturity of the animal in
question.
My lambs are born from I
September onwards. I generally aim to
kill my lambs at a live weight of 44 kgs or above; in the hope of averaging between
a 19 and 20 kg carcass weight. As I am
all studs, I don’t kill lambs off mum; the majority of all lambs have to be
weighed at weaning and again at least 6 weeks later to obtain meaningful
genetic growth figures for selling rams.
The last of my works lambs are killed by early to Mid-April, of which
the large majority of these are ewe lambs.
Do I think there is an issue with
the taste of the ram lambs that I kill during this period? The answer is quite simply NO! The lambs are young and being killed at, for
the want of a better term, what I would call an immature weight. The combination of these two factors I
would think ensures there is no difference in taste. Take a ram lamb say born 1 September, which
is killed in early April as it has only just reached 44kg live weight, which
incidentally is firstly a bloody cull, and secondly inevitably a multiple and
most importantly still immature, so will there be an issue as to taste: I somewhat doubt it. This assumes the lamb is in good condition, i.e.
prime, for which the works should pay a
premium (and do not) as that must affect the eating quality and taste of
the lamb.
But if you take a ram lamb that
is 50kg or more live weight over that same period, then the sex of this lamb
may affect taste, as it’s obviously a very mature lamb. I do sell a few through Temuka that are 50 kg
or more, because being a stud breeder I can’t cull my lambs till early February
(for the reason outlined above: growth figures). But generally no lamb is going to reach such
a live weight before being killed.
Similarly a skinny ram lamb (i.e.
not prime, for whatever reason that achieves the target live weight of 44kg and
is killed, there could be an issue as to taste but primarily because its skinny
not because it’s a ram lamb, as its very unlikely that such a lamb has attained
any form of maturity.
Accordingly the works present
payment regime: that pays you even more abysmally for heavy lambs and that the
lambs are still young i.e. killed by Mid-April ensures the sex of the lamb has very
little if not no bearing at all on the taste.
As my circumstances are similar to how most lambs are killed in New
Zealand, I believe this holds true for practically all lambs killed.
I actually would love to see
technology that enables us to ensure that all lambs destined for the works, are
born as ram lambs, for the simple reason they are ready to be killed weeks
ahead of ewe lambs (this would be waste of time for me as a stud breeder, but
be big benefit for a lot of commercial farmers).
The cynic in me does however wonder about those ram lambs killed
through the winter season, which are considerably older and likely much more mature;
as I can assure you I wouldn’t be eating them!
