LEANER LAMBS FOR COMPETITION

Press, Volume C, Issue 29680, 25 November 1961, Page 13

LEANER LAMBS FOR COMPETITION

It seemed that farmers were realising that there was no demand for overfat lambs, said Mr A. E. White, a supervising grader for the New Zealand Meat Producers’ Board, who was one of the judges at the North Canterbury district export lamb competition held yesterday at the Islington works of the New Zealand Refrigerating Company. Mr White told farmers attending the competition that only one out of the 354 lambs entered had exceeded the 361 b weight limit. He said afterwards that it seemed that the trend to production of leaner lambs was one of the fruits of competitions held in the past. They had been an education to farmers. The result was that this year there were not the fat lambs of previous years. It was probably true that there were lighter lambs entered this year than ever before, he said. The heaviest lamb among the seven prize-winning pens selected by the judges weighed 331 b and the light est 251 b.

The first prize pen came from S. A. Swanson who has a 350-acre farm at Racecourse Hill, Darfield, where he carries 850 Corriedale ewes. His winning lambs were by

Southdown rams and weighed 281'b, 29Jb and 301 b. Mr Swanson recalled yesterday that about eight years ago a pen of his lambs unplaced in the district competition had been among those selected to go to England. The second prize winner was M. Baxter, also of the Darfield district. Both his and Mr Swanson’s lambs were drafted by Messrs D McLeod and J. A Twaddle, of Darfield.

Mr White, who was associated in the judging with Mr E. Bell, another Meat Board supervising grader, and Mr B. Musson, supervising grader for the New Zealand Refrigerating Company, said that the winning pen contained bright lambs of good conformation, but he and Mr Bell agreed that there was very little indeed .between the first seven pens The placings in the competition were as follow: S. A. Swanson (Darfield), Southdown cross lambs weighing 28, 29 and 301 b (drafters, D McLeod and J. A. Twaddle), 1; Murray Baxter (Darfield), Southdown-Romney, 25, 26 and 271 b (D. McLeod and J. A. Twaddle), 2; W. J. Carson (Waipara), Southdown-Cor-riedale, 30, 30 and 281 b (J. Whyte), 3; D. C. F. Mason (Hawarden), Southdown cross, 32, 30 and 321 b (R.Farrant), 4; A. M. Masterton (Courtenay), Southdown-Cor-riedale, 32, 30 and 301 b (McLeod and Twaddle), 5; D. W. Sheat (Dunsandel), South-down-Corriedale, 30, 30, and 321 b (V. W. Manson), 6; D. C. F. Mason (Hawarden), Southdown cross, 33, 32, and 321 b (R. Farrant), 7. For the seven pens to go to London the judges took a lamb out of the second pens of each of Messrs Baxter and Masterton to replace lambs in their pens which were placed in the district competition. Even Lambs “We feel that the seven pens which will be going to London are very even, meaty lambs,” said Messrs White and Bell after they had made these adjustments. The judges warmly praised the standard of work of the chain slaughtermen and they said that the branding, which was most important in the light of the television and other advertising done by the Meat Board, had been done in the correct position and plainly.