Lamb weigh crate prize reaps benefits for Staffordshire farmers

The idea of being able to weigh stock in order to make informed decisions is music to many farmers’ ears, so when Tom Walker and Elisabeth Slack found out they had won an IAE lamb weigh crate courtesy of Rumenco, they couldn’t wait to put it to good use.

“Our old scales weren’t accurate at all and we’d considered buying a new set many times” explains Ms Slack “having only secured our own farm tenancy around a year ago, outlay on scales wasn’t at the top of our priority list, so I was chuffed when the email came through saying we’d won whilst I was at work at the local cattle market”.

It is safe to say that the weigh crate has come in plenty use already for Tom and Elisabeth, “We used it the afternoon it arrived! Around 1000 lambs from our 650 head flock have passed through already, and we’ve had about two draws out of it to date”.

Tom and Elisabeth are aiming to increase their flock size to 1300 breeding ewes within the next 3 to 4 years. “Performance recording is vital to us to allow us to move forward and be in a position to sell high EBV ewes and rams” explains Mr Walker. “The weigh crate will also help with more accurate dosage at worming, and will allow us make better decisions to determine when lambs go”.

Laura Drury, Rumenco Technical Adviser, explains “The lamb weigh crate was a fantastic give away. With margins becoming tighter in lamb finishing systems, monitoring weights can help producers make more informed flock management decisions to maximise returns. Indications of whether growth rates are on target, and when lambs will be ready for market are just a few of the benefits of weighing lambs regularly, and we look forward to hearing how Tom and Elisabeth’s enterprise is reaping the benefits from this useful management tool”.