Improving Accelerated Lambing System through Data Management

View the project final report

Commodities

• Animals: sheep

Practices

• Animal Production: genetics, livestock breeding, production efficiencies

The accelerated 8-month lambing cycle has been proven to increase the production and profitability of a flock over time but why is it not widely used in production?  Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) allows for detailed, digital records to be kept of animals throughout their lives and accessed quickly when questions arise. This technology has been successful in other parts of animal agriculture but has not been uniformly adapted by the sheep industry.  Adaption of RFID tags and data analyzation will be economically viable for the long term because through data analyzation we will retain the most productive ewes who raise lambs that make a profit.  This project is socially responsible by making our work easier and more streamlined. Through RFID data collection and analyzation, we will determine benchmarks for success in commercial hair sheep production related to individual ewe production.

Short Term

1. Improve record keeping through digital RFID system
2. Streamline jobs and their associated timelines (ie. Hoof trimming, vaccinations, pregnancy checking, etc.)
3. Better analyze each ewes production through data recorded
4. Share experience and findings through social media, blogs, and field days.

Long Term

1. Create data supported criteria for replacement ewe retention