Importance of addressing lamb mortality emphasised

TONY ORMAN

Animal welfare in striving to lower lambing mortality should be a top priority for sheep farmers says Marlborough Federated Farmer’s Meat and Wool section chairman Richard Dawkins in his report under the Kellog Rural Leadership Programme.

“Lambing mortality can be compared to the bobby calf issue in dairy, where it is market forces driving change – not animal welfare regulations,” he said.

Richard Dawkins said the sheep farming the industry must consider whether the increasingly conscientious customers and consumers will accept high mortality levels in sheep flocks, particularly if they understand the inflated death rates following storm events and the typical wastage in higher-risk animals.

The New Zealand sheep industry has become increasingly productive in recent decades. This has been achieved primarily through the fecundity and improved feeding of modern sheep breeds. While impressive, this world-leading production has created unintended consequences in the form of excess mortality rates. This is most notable in triplet-bearing ewes, mated hoggets, their offspring, and all lambs in adverse weather conditions.

In his Kellog Rural Leadership Programme report Richard Dawkins emphasised the need for research to ascertain accurate wastage rates, identify innovators who have high survival rates, education systems to transfer the knowledge to farmers in general and keep the issue paramount in sheep farm management.

All the contributors to his report agreed lamb survival is a potential issue for the industry. The report highlighted that improved survival has multiple benefits through improved farm income, animal welfare, eco-efficiencies, market perceptions and farmer sentiment.

Important to note was the ‘lowest hanging fruit’ to improving survival was feeding, nutrition and body scoring of ewes, he said.

“The precedent is there in the dairy industry and bobby calves. On the back of one animal welfare campaign, market requirements surpassed regulations. The sheep sector has the opportunity to improve these animal welfare outcomes, before impractical solutions are enforced,” said Richard Dawkins.

The full report titled “Addressing Mortality in New Zealand Lambing Systems” can be found at ruralleaders.co.nz