SOLUTIONS | LAMB PREMIUM
Alliance premium
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lliance Group has launched a new premium lamb offer to farmers as it seeks to capture greater value for its products and reward its shareholders. The Pure South Handpicked Lamb programme will use an assessment system to measure eating quality with the qualifying lamb initially Lamb cuts on the line at Alliance’s exported to premium retail markets Lorneville plant, Invercargill. in Asia and North America. In the first year of the programme, Alliance will offer farmers a 10c/kg premium above the ruling schedule to all qualifying animals that meet the requirements at the time of processing. The 10 cent premium is on top of the 15c premium Alliance pays for lambs raised without antibiotics. The programme is open to Alliance Platinum and Gold shareholders, who supply 100% of their ovine livestock to the company. Lamb must meet a strict criteria including being born and raised on the supplier’s property, achieve special raising claim requirements and be antibiotic-free. The lambs must also weigh between 17.1-23kg, have certain levels of fat cover, intramuscular fat and pH. All ewes supplying lambs must be body condition scored throughout the year. Only wether and ewe lambs may be supplied to the programme. The lamb will be selected from lambs of any breed except Merino. Lambs with greater than 50% Merino genetics will not be accepted as these have their own unique attributes and are marketed under the premium Silere Alpine Origin Merino brand.
B12 shot that lasts
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re you supplementing your lambs with vitamin B12 or selenium this season? Cobalt (as vitamin B12) and selenium are well recognised as essential trace elements for successful sheep farming in New Zealand. Young growing lambs are most susceptible to deficiency and have the highest B12 requirement of any stock class. Every day lambs are below adequate in their vitamin B12 levels results in compromised growth rates, meaning reduced profit for your farming operation. Developed by AgResearch and extensively trialled in NZ, Smartshot B12 products consistently maintain B12 and selenium levels for three+ months or six+ months (depending on dose rate) with a single injection, compared with short-acting B12 products which would have to be injected every four weeks to maintain levels. Because an injection of Smartshot lasts longer, there is less stress on lambs, reduced yarding time and labour and reduced risk of carcase downgrades. Sustained vitamin B12 and selenium levels allow for consistent and efficient feed conversion throughout the critical growth period. NZ trials carried out by AgResearch demonstrate greater liveweight gains in animals treated at docking/tailing. Gains of as little as 5g/day can provide a return on investment (ROI) on Smartshot, meaning even flocks with a marginal deficiency could benefit. To learn more about the Smartshot products, ask your vet or visit smartshot.co.nz. Registered pursuant to the ACVM Act 1997, Nos. A9402 and A9984.
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Country-Wide
October 2020