Last chance to complete Ram Longevity survey
24th May 2017
Prompted by claims from members that rams do not work on commercial farms for as many seasons as wanted, commercial sheep farmers in the UK are being urged to take part in a short online survey to indicate how long rams are lasting in their flocks, before it closes on Friday 16th June 2017.
The survey can be accessed at www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/ramlongevity and will take just a few minutes to fill in.
NSA is facilitating a group of experts to investigate the flock life of breeding males and reasons for deaths and culling in the UK. Independent sheep consultant Lesley Stubbings, one of those involved and says: “There is currently no data on ram longevity or how much each one costs. Estimates vary widely from £1/lamb sired to more than £7/lamb.
“We need to find out exactly what is happening on farms and investigate the main reasons for early culling and death. Then we can suggest ways of improving ram life and productivity. More than 600 sheep farmers have taken part in the online survey so far, but we would like another hundred or so by the closing date in June.”
There will be opportunities to do the survey on the NSA stand at NSA Highland Sheep at Kinnahaird Farm, Strathpeffer on Wednesday 31st May and NSA North Sheep at West Shields Farm, Tow Law, County Durham on Wednesday 7th June. Farmers can also complete the survey online at www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/ramlongevity.
All responses remain anonymous, but the survey does take the first part of the postcode so that geographic spread can be deduced.
This project is being funded by the Animal Welfare Foundation (AWF). Five focus groups have already taken place to take a deeper look into ram longevity issues on farms.
