NSA Central Region: Lamb - from field to fork

On Tuesday 20th January, NSA Central Region and AHDB hosted a day exploring the topic of 'Field to fork'.

Over 40 farmers enjoyed the informative and interactive day, covering the entire lamb supply chain from farm to table.

It started with a farm tour of the Reaseheath College farm, given by Iain Clarke, Assistant Principal, looking at the dairy herd and their feeding system. Attendees were given insight to the college history and current practices before heading to the sheep unit where Steve Peaty and Steve Hamilton from MLC gave a hands-on lamb live classification and selection demonstration.

Upon returning to the classroom, Steve Hamilton explained the new regulations for abattoirs in England that process 2,000 or more sheep per week bringing the sheep industry in line with beef and pork classification. 

Laura Eyles, Signet, gave a talk on the impact of genetics on lamb production by Signet recording and work that is now being done on sheep genomics to help the industry.

Tom Spencer, AHDB, talked us through the livestock market updates and forecasts for once things are not all doom and gloom, but some positives were highlighted using multiple graphs. Hannah McLoughlin, AHDB, then gave an enlightening presentation on consumer insights and the impacts on the sheep industry.

AHDB’s Martin Eccles performed a live butchery demo on a fore end of lamb and where the market potential is for each cut including the fifth quarter cuts.

The final presentation was thought inspiring looking at financial monitoring and recording with Farmbench by Julie Clark. 

Overall, it was an enjoyable and informative day organised by AHBD at Reaseheath College. Thanks to all who attended and helped with the day.