Young farmers have 3 weeks left to apply for free Myomax ram

Young sheep farmers looking to increase carcass weights and grades in their prime lambs can apply to get a free Myomax ram this summer. 

Shepherds aged 35 years or younger can express their interest through the National Sheep Association (NSA) to argue their case for being given up to five free Romney rams from the Kaiapoi flock in Hertfordshire in what has been dubbed the Next GENE-eration ram giveaway. 

The generous initiative follows a pledge made by sheep breeders Rob and Jo Hodgkins when they imported six live rams with the Myomax gene from New Zealand in 2019.

See also: Genes help raise carcass quality

The Frank Parkinson Agricultural Trust donated £20,000 to cover half the costs of testing and transporting the two- to three-year-old rams. The Henry Plumb Foundation also donated £3,000.

The Hodgkins family have promised to offer up to five rams bred from the imported tups to young sheep farmers to benefit the wider UK sheep industry.

Applicants have just three weeks to apply at go.nationalsheep.org.uk/ramgiveaway 

Ram selection

The original Myomax rams travelled 18,359km from Nithdale on the South Island of New Zealand to Hertfordshire and were used on the Hodgkins family’s 2,000-ewe Romney flock.

All sheep at Nithdale and Kaiapoi are DNA parent verified to ensure performance recording is accurate in very low-input, outdoor-lambing, forage-based systems.

The rams have an approximate value of £2,000-£2,500 each and are recorded on the New Zealand Sheep Improvement Limited system with an index of 2,500 or above.

“Rams all carry one copy of the Myomax gene,” said Mr Hodgkins. “One copy is worth a 5% increase in lean meat yield and two copies result in a 10% increase.”

The rams are genetically tested to locate a mutation in the myostatin gene that promotes double muscling and faster weight gain.

“It will be great to hear from young farmers about how these rams could help their businesses and fit with their breeding programmes. It will be good to hear how they get on in the future, too,” added Mr Hodgkins.

“We’d really like to have five young farmers take a ram each. While they are Myomax rams, their breeding and functionality is suitable for very low-input, outside-lambing systems – they are a maternal, dual-purpose ram.”