Does anyone manage their sheep enterprise

[delilah]

for taste ?
We have plenty fruit growers round here, they talk about the taste of so and so strawberry or apple.
Have seen a thread on here discussing the taste of different breeds of beef.
Dairy producers need to be wary of certain feeds for fear of tainting the milk.
The OH moans that the potatoes in the veg box have no taste, which I believe is influenced by the soil type as much as the variety.
Does anyone make any management decisions with their sheep business that are influenced by taste ? Curious.

 

[Courier]

I can well believe that the Shetland flocks which graze on seaweed have a salty flavour, but never actually experienced it ....

 

[Agrivator]

I can well believe that the Shetland flocks which graze on seaweed have a salty flavour, but never actually experienced it ....

Some of it has (or at least had) a smokey flavour, after being smoked and hung from a beam in the kitchen/living room.

Blackface and Swaledale lamb straight of heather has a gamey flavour.

 

[Woolless]

No but then again (wrongly in my view) there is no incentive for those who sell through the mart or deadweight to take this in to account.
I can't remember if I heard it ringside at Kelso or read about it afterwards but I do remember a Suffolk tup with a very high intramuscular fat EBV being sold to someone that direct sold his lambs, which I thought was a good move.

 

[Al R]

Apart from salt marsh lamb in the Gower(by Swansea) who sells direct to customers I don’t know of any others.
there is no incentive BUT I do have to declare what my lambs have been grazing, ie green crop, pellets, clover leys, ewes milk but not sure why other than if you do feed pellets you have to give the manufactures details so they can check it’s GM free? It’s a tick box exercise that goes with the passport.

 

[spin cycle]

think from their behaviour mine might taste of venison

 

[Nithsdale]

think from their behaviour mine might taste of venison

Were they deer to buy?

 

[primmiemoo]

I think it might happen at some point, but when is anybody's guess. I don't sell direct to the public, so don't have immediate feedback, but once a taste for lamb, hogget and mutton is regained within the population, I can see a greater appreciation of flavour from sheepmeat. It's better for a bod than coffee, or gin, so why not?

Are there any taste trials at the moment?

 

[Bury the Trash]

for taste ?
We have plenty fruit growers round here, they talk about the taste of so and so strawberry or apple.
Have seen a thread on here discussing the taste of different breeds of beef.
Dairy producers need to be wary of certain feeds for fear of tainting the milk.
The OH moans that the potatoes in the veg box have no taste, which I believe is influenced by the soil type as much as the variety.
Does anyone make any management decisions with their sheep business that are influenced by taste ? Curious.

Lucerne is supposed alter the ttaste or something in lamb , but i would rather have it to feed them in a dry time and its good feed for their overall health and protein req.

ir reckon my Southdown x lambs are best tasters here ill let you know when and if we get chance to do a taste comparison...

 

[Highland Mule]

We minimise stress to the animals and believe that results in more tender meat. Keep on grass as long as possible. Take them to the back door of the Abattoir ourselves, and they’re very used to being handled. The feedback from our direct customers suggests that our meat is above average in quality, but I have no absolute evidence.

 

[spin cycle]

Were they deer to buy?

no i got them in a 'spring sale'

 

[clod hopper]

Were they deer to buy?

No they just turned up one morning!

 

[neilo]

No but then again (wrongly in my view) there is no incentive for those who sell through the mart or deadweight to take this in to account.
I can't remember if I heard it ringside at Kelso or read about it afterwards but I do remember a Suffolk tup with a very high intramuscular fat EBV being sold to someone that direct sold his lambs, which I thought was a good move.

imf level will effect tenderness/shear force rather than taste I would have thought. Without measuring that in a carcass, there can’t be any premium attached to it, and EUROP grading can’t do that.
Waitrose/Innovis have a tie up using Focus Prime rams, with the aim of producing higher imf lambs, but no reason the same can’t be achieved using other/better breeds where individuals have been identified & selected with a CT scanner. That measuring has been going on for some time already.

The only ‘taste’ premium I know of is for salt marsh lamb, but some of those allegedly don’t live on a salt marsh for long.

 

[Tim W]

for taste ?
We have plenty fruit growers round here, they talk about the taste of so and so strawberry or apple.
Have seen a thread on here discussing the taste of different breeds of beef.
Dairy producers need to be wary of certain feeds for fear of tainting the milk.
The OH moans that the potatoes in the veg box have no taste, which I believe is influenced by the soil type as much as the variety.
Does anyone make any management decisions with their sheep business that are influenced by taste ? Curious.

It is the prime factor that farmers/breeders have largely ignored for decades ---at their peril
It's not an easy thing to measure objectively which makes it difficult to improve
I'm keen to work on it but have not got very far (as of yet)

 

[Bury the Trash]

It is the prime factor that farmers/breeders have largely ignored for decades ---at their peril
It's not an easy thing to measure objectively which makes it difficult to improve
I'm keen to work on it but have not got very far (as of yet)

You mean to say that you and your mates started a completely new breed with a list of requirements that actually didn't include a ' good taste level,'

Back to drawing board then I guess

 

[Woolless]

imf level will effect tenderness/shear force rather than taste I would have thought.

Higher marbling=more 'succulent' meat rather than dry, lean muscle. Would probably help both ways.

 

[twizzel]

We minimise stress to the animals and believe that results in more tender meat. Keep on grass as long as possible. Take them to the back door of the Abattoir ourselves, and they’re very used to being handled. The feedback from our direct customers suggests that our meat is above average in quality, but I have no absolute evidence.

This ^ our abattoir hangs for a week too which seems to enhance the meat, rather than the standard 1-2 days hanging.

 

[Highland Mule]

This ^ our abattoir hangs for a week too which seems to enhance the meat, rather than the standard 1-2 days hanging.

I’m not convinced by hanging. The best lamb I ever ate was killed on farm and hung for less than 12 hours.

 

[Woolless]

Age of lamb is often overlooked as well. We try and finish lambs ASAP in the name of efficiency but here no lamb goes in the freezer before autumn and even then only if there's no youngish mutton available.

 

[Bury the Trash]

I’m not convinced by hanging. The best lamb I ever ate was killed on farm and hung for less than 12 hours.

As a matter of interest how did/ would it have graded (the carcase)?