Texels deliver day after day, year after year

RECENT survey and trial results have demonstrated the Texel breed’s continued dominance as the leading force in the UK sheep sector.

Speaking ahead of this year’s NSA Sheep Event, Texel Sheep Society chief executive John Yates said the results from last year’s AHDB GB Sheep Breeds Survey, combined with cumulative results from the past six years of AHDB’s RamCompare project, showed how the breed was delivering for commercial producers across the country.

The 2021 AHDB GB Breeds Survey showed that more than 27 per cent of all rams used in GB were Texels, while 26 per cent of all ewes mated to Texel rams.

The survey also revealed 2.6 per cent of the national flock to be purebred Texel and 15 per cent of crossbred ewes were found to be Texel sired. Overall, the breed and its crosses represented 12 per cent of all ewes in GB.

Meanwhile, cumulative results from the past six years of AHDB’s RamCompare project show Texel sires continuing to dominate the rankings, with 14 of the top 20 rams for overall carcase merit index over the past six years being Texels. Eight of these 14 rank within the top 10 rams over the past six years and four of them are in the top five, proving the breed’s ability to produce carcases suited to the needs of the modern meat trade, explained Mr Yates.

“These cumulative results, which were

omitted from public reporting of Ram-Compare’s sixth year data, demonstrate the ability Texels have to add value at every step of the lamb supply chain,” he said.

Designed to provide an overarching index showing the genetic merit of sires used in commercial flocks, the carcase merit index combines EBVs for carcase weight, carcase conformation and carcase fat class, explained Mr Yates.

“It gives the most complete assessment of a ram’s potential to influence their progeny to meet with current payment methods provided from the EUROP carcase classification.

“It is no surprise to see Texel rams scoring so well on this EBV and it reflects the breed’s universally acknowledged ability to improve carcase quality across a wide range of dam breeds in a diverse range of farming systems and environments throughout the year,” he said.

On top of the high number of Texels ranking highly for overall carcase merit, the breed also contributed three of the top five rams for days to slaughter as well as 14 of the top 20 rams for fat class and nine of the top 20 rams for carcase conformation index, including three of the top five rams for this important trait.

“The breed also had 11 of the top 20 rams for carcase weight index in the RamCompare cumulative results, with four of these ranking inside the top five for this trait.

Mr Yates said this high level of performance across all years of the RamCompare trial showed the breed’s consistent performance, which had come to be highly valued by sheep farmers over nearly 50 years since the breed was introduced to the UK.

“These performance figures further prove what farmers using Texels within their businesses already knew – Texels deliver day after day, year after year.

“In any business cumulative performance is the truest measure of success and nowhere is this more applicable than farming where the results from one year can directly impact on the results of the next through both management changes and genetic choices,” he said.

“When it comes to genetic progress all results are cumulative, whether good or bad, and making the right genetic selections today can have lasting impacts, particularly when replacement stock are retained.”

However, Texel breeders are not resting on their laurels and the society is currently involved in groundbreaking research tar-geting reductions in greenhouse gasses to help reduce the climate change impact of the sheep industry.

“Climate change is the biggest challenge facing humanity today and everyone has a responsibility to lessen their impact on the planet. As a breed Texels are already highly efficient thanks to decades of investment by Texel breeders in performance recording.

“There is always more that can be done and the society is currently, through supplying rams, supporting research which is aiming to reduce methane emissions from the sheep industry.

“With the recent announcement of a proposed methane tax on livestock farms in New Zealand and the likelihood of incentives being introduced in parts of the UK for evidence of reductions in greenhouse gas emissions from livestock, this work will help place Texels at the heart of the solution that livestock can provide in combatting climate change,” added Mr Yates.