The Texel Gene Advantage.

Extensive testing has proved to Te Rakau principals Rob and Maria Wood that the valuable myostatin gene is fully integrated into their flock. The advantage to producers who consign lamb over the hook is obvious. A single copy of myostatin delivers 5% more muscling in the leg and loin and 7% less carcass fat. Over the years Texel breeders throughout Australia have received reports from delighted clients that their Texel sired lambs returned anywhere between $3 and $9 per head more than identical consignments of other breeds.

The Sheep CRC research into profitable DNA markers describes myostatin as by far the most significant gene marker identified to date. Purebred Texels, the only original source of myostatin, will carry two copies thus ensuring all crossbred progeny are consistently profitable as they will inherit one copy. Each generation further away from pure Texel breeding can produce very attractive sires but the frequency of the gene is reduced at each cross. Only half the progeny of a composite animal carrying a single copy of myostatin will receive any benefit.

Recent media reports claim that increased muscling and leanness can lead to poor eating quality. These misleading claims are based on research where lambs lost an average of 4.1kg over the 60 day period prior to slaughter. This is so at odds with standard practice prime lamb production, and at compete variance with research elsewhere, that the findings should be ignored.

The New Zealand Central progeny testing is the only commercial comparison available to producers in Australia and New Zealand, and attracts a number of Australian sires. Over the previous few years the growth plus meat (profitability) results have been consistently dominated by Texels. In 2008 the breed again featured in 10 of the top 20 placings, far outperforming all other terminal sire breeds, with the purebred Texels once again outranking the composite sires. When selling over the hooks yield is profit

Te Rakau principals Rob and Maria Wood are delighted to have the first progeny of imported Scottish genetics proving their worth, shown here at 16 weeks. The lambs have gained in excess of 350gr/hd/day since birth with a magnificent hindquarter .

UK Genetics show their worth

Te Rakau principals Rob and Maria Wood are delighted to have the first progeny of imported UK genetics proving their worth, shown here at 16 weeks. The lambs have gained in excess of 350gr/hd/day since birth with a magnificent hindquarter.

The Next Generation

Pictured are the first of the lambs sired by imported Scottish breeding. Pictured at 4 weeks old on the 26th April 2008.

EXCLUSIVE TO TE RAKAU -
U.K. BRED TEXELS.

Rob and Maria Wood of Te Rakau have purchased the 3 rams and 2 ewes imported as embryos from the UK in 2004 by Dale River Transplants. The embryos were imported when a never to be repeated window of opportunity presented in 2004 after the UK government established Scrapie resistant status for UK breeders. To qualify for export to Australia the sire and dam of the imported embryos were flushed for semen and embryos at 6 years of age then autopsied to establish their Scrapie free status. All the imports have now been tested microphthalmia free and carry a double copy of the myostatin gene.

Sire - HMK 95037 PI (2) KIRTLE BANKER

Kirtle Banker was bred by Robin Hope, a well-known, respected breeder of Texels in the UK. Kirtle Banker was champion ram at Lanark 1995 and was purchased at the Lanark sale by Muiresk Flock breeders Bruce and Colin Mair for 12,000guineas. His sire, Woodmarsh All Gold was purchased at Lanark in 1994 for 13,000guineas by a consortium of 5 breeders. His pedigree includes many of the famous sires such as Glenside You're a Winner, Annan Winner, Annan Undercover, Annan Newsboy, Annan Jazzboy and Turin Union. One of his grandsires was Milton of Noth Sir Alan who topped the 1988 Lanark sale at £ 10,500 and went on to sire many of the Annan stud's most successful sires.

Kirtle Banker's s dam was successive Royal Show Champion in 1993 and 1994. His progeny are sought after and two of his sons sold in 1996 for 4,800gns and 4,000gns with his first 11 sons averaging UK £ 2,000.

Dam - HMK 97095(2) KIRTLE

HMK 97095 pedigree includes the most influential sires bred up to that time. She was sired by Netherkeir Blaze. Her grandsire was Annan Ygorra, champion of the UK Texel Society's premier sale at Lanark where he sold for 16,000gns, as well as the 1st prize at the Royal Highland and Royal English shows.

Ygorra's sire Annan Won o Won was a major breeder, siring many successful rams and ewes throughout UK and living until 10 years of age. He sired the Lanark champion that sold in 2002 for 27,000guineas.

HMK's pedigree also includes Baltier Winston, who sold at Lanark in 1992 for 9,000guineas, Milnbank Yesterday, Annan Viking and a number of earlier well known Annan sires.

The Kirtle stud established a reputation for their ewes in the early 90's when they exhibited a number of champion ewes.

Texels Top of the Crop.

Texels have excelled in 2006/2007 Central Progeny Tests run by Meat and Wool New Zealand. Of the top 20 terminal rams for meat and growth( i.e. profitability) four of the first five rams were purebred Texel. The highest ranked ram produced lambs worth $4.53 more than the average of all lambs tested. Ten of the top 20 animals in the Meat and Growth index were either purebred Texel or part Texel.

The CPT in NZ is the only progeny testing currently done in Australasia and now has 8 years of results including many famous names associated with studs frequently used in Australian flocks. NZ breeders are invited to nominate animals so the testing is a comparison of the best of all breeds.

The testing is set up as a breed comparison, not a ram comparison, and is focussed on identifying the best genetics regardless of breed. Evaluation included 120 sires from 14 terminal and 9 dual purpose breeds at 3 sites. Growth and meat performance are measured with animals slaughtered at a target weight of 18kg and yield calculated under VIASCAN.

Full results are to be found at
www.meatandwoolnz.com/main.cfm?id=303

'Te Rakau SaleTeam 2006

What could be more valuable than DNA guaranteed to increase a lamb’s carcase weight and muscle yield?  Which is more profitable, a 50kg lamb producing a 25kg carcase or a 50kg lamb producing a 22 kg carcase?

Science is finally catching up with the remarkable claims made about Texels, and proving them correct.European scientists have identified the gene, unique to Texels responsible for an increased 5% muscling in the leg and loin and 7% less carcase fat, with no negative effects on traits such as growth rate, meat quality and lamb survival.Texels carry a double copy of the gene.

The Meat and Livestock Australia Sheep Genome project is now testing for the Myostatin gene to investigate its inheritability in composite breeding.  Of the Texels tested, 97% have been found to carry a double copy of the gene, including all the stud rams submitted by Te Rakau To date the composite breeds using Texel genes have not improved on the original.  In recent years purebred Texels have dominated the NZ Alliance Central Progeny testing based on performance tests and VIASCAN measurement of the offspring of 72 sires of 20 breeds in 12 abattoirs.

In Australia over the last few years Texels have created a remarkable record of performance based achievements unmatched by any other breed. Whether judged by VIASCAN, wholesale carcase value, or weight and GR, prime lamb competitions are a major benchmarking tool for the prime lamb industry and are dominated by Texels Last year the breed won all but one competition in Australia

The effects of the myostatin gene are further reinforced by a recent study on the influence of the muscling and growth EBV’s as part of a Sheep CRC Muscle Biology program and MLA project which demonstrated that an increased muscling EBV brings considerable economic return for producers paid for lean meat yield, and contributes to more profitable feed conversion by reducing fatness.  Te Rakau’s shortlist of rams for the 2006 Moora Stud Sheep Breeders Sale has an average PEMD of 1.44, average PWWT of 4.05 and an average Carcase Plus index of 142.Te Rakau’s VIASCAN average over 2 seasons at WAMMCO has averaged 54.2%.  For all those producers looking for depth of breeding backed by good solid figures these are impressive averages.

As the Australian Prime Lamb industry moves towards value based marketing Te Rakau Texels are well placed to provide their clients with the rams to take advantage of these opportunities.

WA Farm Weekly. February 19th 2004.

Robert Keamy, Rob Panting (WAMMCO) and Alex Keamy with one of their heavy Texel BorderLeicester/Merino carcases. (Click on image to enlarge)

Well known stud Border Leicester and Merino breeders Robert and Alex Keamy of "Anro" Watheroo were looking for a sheep enterprise with greater profit and potential to better suit an increased focus on cropping, utilising their strong base of large framed Merino and Border Leicester ewes. On the advice of Primaries' man in the midlands Nigel Hunt they recently consigned several lines of their "new breed" crossbred lambs to WAMMCO early this month.

The Keamys are using Poll Dorset and Te Rakau Texel rams over their large Border Leicester/ Merino cross ewes and without supplementary feeding had no trouble getting a big proportion of more than 300 lambs into WAMMCO's premium grades for the US market.

The Te Rakau Texel sired lambs achieved the highest average weight of 28.62kg, averaging $96.59 per head including $5 for skins; for an advantage of 1.94kg.

The lambs had no supplementary feeding but were finished on a crop of barley with a clover base, that Alex had previously spray topped.

Texels win city market

Thursday, 18 September 2003 (From WA Farm Weekly)

A SPUR-OF-THE-MOMENT decision to take part in a charity auction at the Wagin Woolarama last year has led to the creation of a lucrative and very tasty niche lamb market in Perth.

One of the lots in the auction was a flock of Texel lambs bought by Primaries livestock agent Wayne Fuchsbichler.

Wayne's son, Shane, owns Creative Meats at Herdsman Fresh Essentials in Churchlands and he took a consignment of the lambs to see how they would sell at his shop.

"Dad bid for the first lambs at Wagin for us, so if it wasn't for him we wouldn't have known about them," Shane said.

"He did the judging for the Texels and it came out that they won all the ribbons at the Wagin Woolarama."

Shane said the Texels were popular with customers because of the lambs' "unbelievable" muscle definition.

The lambs have been attracting top prices, with Esperance farmer Roger Hill recently getting $98.58 per head from an average live weight of 45kg and dress weight of 22.2kg at score three.

"They are getting good prices because their muscle definition is full so the yield is a lot more," Shane said.

"We are also getting a consistent, year-round supply so we don't mind paying a premium price for the product as long as it meets the standard score 2s and 3s and is usually around an average weight of 21kg.

"If we can get the average around 21-22kg we can sell more meat over the counter.

"The customers are taking home more meat in their package and they are getting more value because they are getting more meat than bone."

Farmers from New Norcia, Bindi Bindi and Esperance are turning the lambs off at different times of the year, giving a continuous supply to Creative Meats after starting with an eight-week program.

Shane is turning off 70 lambs a week through his shop and his cold room is chock full.

He has been involved in the formation of a Texel association to spread the word about the lambs to other selected butchers in the metropolitan area.

"We want to spread it out so that each butcher has a niche market," he said.

"There is definitely room for other butchers and it will make it more feasible for farmers to get more butchers as well."

He said customer feedback has been extremely favourable, with Texel lamb sales comprising about 30pc of Shane's meat range.

"Before Texels we were selling basically prime lambs, which are still good quality, but it was a mixture of all breeds," he said.

"We didn't know what breed we had in the shop and we couldn't tell the customer what it was.

"Now we can tell the customer this is a Texel cross, it's come from this farmer and if there is a complaint we can go to the farmer, tell them the problem and they can fix it."

Lamb sales booming

(From WA Farm Weekly)

(Click on image to enlarge)

Creative Meats proprietor Shane Fuchsbichler said lamb trade had jumped 15pc since they swapped to supply only Texel meat earlier this year.

In a bid to better meat consumer needs, and value-add Texel carcases, Creative Meats has developed new innovative ways to please its customers.

As Texel carcases generally dress out larger than an average crossbred lamb, 21kg compared to 16-18kg. Mr Fuchsbichler has made a gourmet boneless leg of hame.

The smaller sized cut has had tha bones and shank and shin muscle removed.

"It gives the customer a better product, it is quicker to cook, and is not only good value for the customer, but value for us," he said.

Muscle from the lamb leg has also been proccessed into lamb steaks from the topside cut.

Mr Fuchsbichler said Texel lamb sold itself on presentation.

"Texels yield more and have a higher muscle to bone ratio," he said.

Texels help lift trade 15pc

(From WA Farm Weekly)

Texel meat has created a frenzy among Creative Meats customers who buy lamb from the Herdsman Fresh Essentials butcher shop.

Creative Meats proprietor Shane Fuchsbichler said lamb trade at the shop had boomed after he introduced Texel meat.

Since the trial supply with Rob and Maria Wood, Te Rakau Texels, was started after Wagin Woolorama this year, trade has jumped 15pc.

Due to the outstanding response, Creative Meats now exclusively supplies Texel lamb.

Creative Meats customers are so pleased with the product, they have grown to expect a continuous supply of the sweet and tender Texel lamb meat.

This has prompted Mr Fuchsbichler to call on the WA Texel Stud Breeders Association to organise continuity of supply.

Mr Fuchsbichler wants to turn the trial alliance, with Mr and Mrs Wood and more recently Tanya and Roger Hill, Tanalan Texels, Esperance, Arthur Lukins, Tori Park Texels, Newdegate, and Robert Temby, Morronging, Dumbleyung, into a long-term supply agreement.

But more Texel producers are needed.

Since the trial began last year, customers have raved about the product.

"That is why we will stick with Texel meat, but as long as there are enough farmers out there to supply us," Mr Fuchsbichler said.

"It is up to members of the WA Texel Stud Breeders Association to ensure we are supplied 12 months of the year, to keep our customers happy.

To guarantee continuity of supply, Mr and Mrs Wood said producers across the state are involved, as different areas of the state finished lambs at different times of the year.

"We are setting up a uniform finishing system," Mrs Wood said.

The finishing system would need to involve all producers to organise lamb into the butcher shop in an orderly manner, to ensure year-round supply.

According to Mr and Mrs Wood, the alliance will be producer controlled.

Although no formal framework has been finalised, and continuity of supply would be the major sticking point for some time, Mrs Wood said she felt everything had progressed well to date. Other butchers have expressed interest but at present only Creative Meats will be supplied.

"We need to walk before we can run," she said.

Letter Published in WA Countryman.

LAMB SELLING SYSTEM DEFIES DESCRIPTION.

Would we sell wheat only by weight with no quality segregation? Would we sell wool only by weight with no description? No, so why is lamb sold this way? Lamb must be one of the few commodities sold with so little quality description. Under our present system, at the same weight, carcases with poor muscularity and conformation are as financially rewarding for the producer as a well-muscled carcase producing high value cuts. Carcases of the same weight and fatscore are deemed identical. This is nonsense. Our carcase description system sends no accurate signals to the producer to identify desirable conformation, and of even greater concern, the retailer has no description by which he can demand the carcase types suited to varying consumer requirements. Surveys undertaken by MLA indicate that in spite of the $$millions spent in lamb promotion one of the biggest hurdles remains the consumers’ inconsistent eating experience with lamb. One of the factors must be a carcase quality description that fails to connect the producer with consumer demands.

VIASCAN has the potential to replace the present system but David Hopkins, Meat Scientist, ARS, Cowra, and Neal Fogarty, Senior Research Scientist, OAI, Orange concluded in their study of ‘Meat Yield and Carcass Composition of Diverse Lamb Genotypes’ in 1994,1995,1996, that VIASCAN was of similar accuracy to carcase weight and GR for predicting yield, and suggested that the whole carcass description required re-evaluation. They suggested there would be more value in developing technology to provide estimates of muscle dimensions.

A number of successful alliances have been established, but they are a result of the inability of the producer and retailer to connect in the market place due to the lack of specifications and product description. Our carcase classification system is so inadequate the market has to be bypassed to access product of specific quality.

Australians enjoy one of the highest standards of living in the world; this is a sophisticated market. Retailers constantly remind us that lamb quality needs to improve to satisfy the market. Without an accurate description how can producers provide to their requirements? The most quality conscious markets in the world, in Western Europe, have successfully used a carcase quality grading system for lamb for decades. Their system describes six degrees of muscle conformation and five of fat, giving the retailer a choice of 30 carcase types.

There must be more producers out there who take a pride in their product, in the breeding, the feeding, and the knowledge that they have a superior product preferred by retailer and consumer. They continue to be frustrated because without a description their work disappears into the great averaging system of the processing industry to be sold as "Lamb"

Maria Wood
Bindi Bindi

Texels top consumer taste test

By SHANNON BARRACLOUGH (Farm Weekly)

SELLING lamb meat by breed has put Texel lamb at the top of the shopping list for consumers who buy from Creative Meats, Herdsman Fresh Essentials, Churchlands.

Supplied by Rob and Maria Wood, Te Rakau Texels, Bindi Bindi, through a grower direct scheme, Texel lamb has become the food of choice for many consumers at Creative Meats.

The positive consumer reac-tion and sales results were put down to the consistent supply of a quality product and breed branding. Consumers feedback had been extremely positive, according to Creative Meats proprietor Shane Fuchsbichler. Mr Fuchsbichler said Texels yielded more than other prime lambs, no trimming was required and Creative Meats kept all the offal. “Texels pre-sent better value for us and for consumers,” he said.

Not only had consumers responded to value for money and the Texel’s superior eating qualities, it was also healthy.

Renowned for its tenderness, sweetness and leanness, Texel meat has the added benefit of containing lower concentrations of saturated fatty acids and higher concentration of monounsaturated fatty acids, unlike other prime lamb breeds.

The trade relationship began with Mr Fuchsbichler’s first consignment of Te Rakau Texels from the Wagin Woolo-rama carcase competition.

After positive consumer feed-back, Mr Fuchsbichler sought consistent supply for an eight week pilot program, which is a supply and sell agreement between the Te Rakau and Creative Meats to test consumer reaction. In its fourth week, the program has been a remarkable success for both and is likely to result in a formal long-term arrangement.

Of the 60 Texel lambs sold per week at Creative Meats, Rob and Maria supply 45 lambs of a 21kg dressed weight average for $4.30/kg.

The first and second cross lambs were trial-fed lupins over summer. Then to turn off a con-sistent carcass quality, the lambs were lotfed pellets for at least one month prior to being dressed at Eastern Districts Abattoirs, Merredin.

Maria Wood (left), Te Rakau Texels, Bindi Bindi, Creative Meats proprietor Shane Fuchsbichler and Rob Wood at Herdsman Fresh Essentials, where 45 of the Wood’s Texel lambs are sold weekly.

For each of the past four weeks they have been making a 750 kilometre return journey from their farm to Merredin to drop off 45 first and second cross Texel-Merino lambs, finished on pellets for one month, for processing at Eastern Districts Abattoirs.

Shane Fuchsbichler and Nathan Holmes, owners of Creative Meats at Herdsman Fresh Essentials in Churchlands, are buying the lamb carcases – which are dressed weight in a range of 18-25kg.

These butchers have become the first to sell branded Texel lamb at retail level in WA and ate getting a lot of positive feedback from their customers about the excellent eating quality of the high-value cuts.

The direct supply trial between the Woods and Creative Meats will run for another four weeks.

The Woods then hope the WA Texel Stud Breeders Association and its members can develop a code of practice for quality assurance, covering husbandry, breeding feed regimes and finishing under which more regular supply consignments of Texel-infused lamb can be sourced for the butchers.

For the Woods, seeing their lamb product branded in the butcher shop is the realisation of a long-held goal.

They believe the supply chain alliance with the butcher is one way of getting around the inadequacies of WA’s sheep classification system, which they say fails to reward producers for supplying top quality lambs that are more profitable for processors and retailers.

Mrs Wood said under the current system, at the same weight a carcase with the conformation of a skinned rabbit was as financially rewarding for a lamb producer as a well-muscled carcase producing high value cuts.

She said direct supply alliances between producers, processors and butchers allowed better identification of quality lamb, but the classification and grading system should still be overhauled to recognise carcase muscularity.

Shane Fuchsbichler said such alliances in future would need an agent so retailers did not have to deal with a lot of different producers, but for now his arrangement with the Woods was working very well.

Mr Fuchsbichler said for the past five years Creative Meats had used mainly prime Merino lamb carcases of 16-20 kilograms.

But he said his perceptions about sourcing heavier lambs had changed for the better after buying four Texel carcases from the Wagin Woolorama lamb auction this year that weighed in at 26kg.

Mr Fuchsbichler said during the current eight-week trial, 45 of the 60 lamb carcases he bought each week were coming from the Woods and he was paying them a 10c/kg premium over the $4.20/kg market price for his specifications.

"It is costing me and extra $80-90 per carcase to get the Texel lambs but I can make this up in less trimmings, better meat cuts and use of the offal" he said

PIRD

The Western Australian Texel Breeders Association have received Producer Initiated Research and Development (PIRD) funding from the Meat & Livestock Australia to conduct a demonstration trial - in conjunction with LAMBPLANTM and AgWest.

This demonstration is aimed at comparing the influence of rams with extremes of LAMBPLAN's muscle and growth indices on suckers and out of season lamb.  Comparison is also available with the results out of Merino and Texel/Merino ewes. The lambs are to be processed in two stages - suckers and carryover lambs - by Goodchild's abattoirs with the carcasses boned out to commercial cuts to relate the influence of the LAMBPLAN index on monetary return for the end product. The will help identify which LAMBPLAN index is more attractive to producers and processors in different systems.

Results of the trial are now available on this site at PIRD Trial Results.