PRIME lamb weight gain is a competitive business at Rutherglen, in Victoria's North East.
Every year southern NSW and northern Victorian producers enter a range of terminal and maternal sheep breeds in the Rutherglen Show Society's lamb feedlot trial to see how they stack up dollar wise.
It has become something of a state of origin series, with NSW and Victoria one win apiece.
This year's competition has attracted 20 teams of five lambs from Jerilderie to Wangaratta.
Hosted by Rutherglen prime lamb producer Scott Francis, the six-week trial will produce feedback data on feedlot weight gain, feed conversion efficiency, carcass weight, fat depth and dressing percentage.
Entrants will select their top three sheep for judging at the Rutherglen Show on October 16.
Lambs will then be slaughtered at Wangaratta the next day, with the balance sold at the Corowa saleyards the same day.
Mr Francis said the trial was run by farmers, for farmers, as an educational tool and networking forum.
This year's breeds include Dorper cross, White Suffolk cross, Dohne, Prime SAMM cross, Van Rooy cross, Texel cross and the traditional second cross lambs.
Last year, 90 lambs were entered by 18 producers and fed over 61 days on pellets and straw.
They were drenched, vaccinated and backlined on entry, and then weighed weekly.
Average entry weight was 39kg, and 53kg by week six, giving an average total weight gain of 14kg - an average daily gain of 400 grams, at a cost of 54 cents, a day.
The feed conversion efficiency of the group was 0.4kg of weight gain for every 1.85kg of feed eaten.
At slaughter, the average dressing percentage was 51 with a hot standard carcass weight of 26.7kg and fat depth of 19mm (fat score three).
At 403c/kg, the average total value of each lamb was $107 excluding hide value.
Trial co-ordinator Gordon Fisher said feedback revealed that lotfeeding was a good option for producers in dry years.
"In drought years, if people have grain in their silos, they may be better off selling it, buying pellets and finishing lambs," Mr Fisher said.
"It's like a footy tipping competition - it attracts a lot of interest and the entrants have become seriously competitive."
