As 2019 progressed, so did the database with signetdata.com which has now reached completion. The website now hosts all of our information and guides. Some of the most recently updated features include:

• Sheep for Sale
• High Five Lists 
• Inbreeding calculator 
• Cataloguing feature 
• Genetic trends
• Flock Finder
• Breeder Search
• Progeny Report

To browse the site and try the latest tools, visit signetdata.com

Members can add pictures to their breeder page and to individual animal pages that will appear in searches. We are encouraging breeders to use this opportunity to raise the profile of their animals and flock or herd.

We are asking for images of cattle to be sent in. These will be used on the new website and in our other publications, to raise awareness of performance recording and those breeders that are performance recording.

A new feature of the website is the Sheep For Sale section. Rams can be marketed for sales that are:

• off farm
• via an auction market
• as semen

Sales listings are open to all, and an excellent way for breeders to market their top rams. Members have the ability to add animals to sales groups, from these groups members can print catalogues and EBV charts easily.

If you have purchased new animals that are not already on the database, the animal will need to be added by Signet in the office. To do this we need the animal’s pedigree details and date of birth.

Those flocks that have begun winter lambing can now enter their lambing data directly into signetdata.com. Members that are not lambing can set up sire lists ready for lambing and familiarise themselves with the online data entry. There are step by step instructions online.

During the winter, when life is a little less hectic, it is a good time to take stock and evaluate the previous year. This offers the time to complete the census for your animals. This can be completed online, via excel or on a paper worksheet, marking animals that have left the farm (dead or sold).

IgA testing will be provided by Biobest Labs in 2019. The test is priced at £5.50/sample (saliva or serum).

A recent Abacus report calculates the optimum weight for ewes is between 55-65kg in commercial sheep enterprises. Heavier ewes cost more to feed and although the carcases are higher value, this does not negate the higher feed costs. This research is particularly relevant to maternal breeds that are being sold to form a large part of commercial sheep flocks.

For breeders wishing to manipulate this trait, EBVs are the answer. To produce this EBV accurately, weights from mature animals need to be collected. The weight and body condition score of ewes can be entered on signetdata.com. Shearling weights can also be recorded.

Join AHDB Beef & Lamb and Samuel Boon, Senior Manager with Signet Breeding Services, for a webinar on buying a recorded ram for terminal sire traits.

In this edition Emma Steele, Breeding Specialist for Signet Services talks to farmers Jamie Wilde and Andrew Walton about what traits they would look for when buying a Signet recorded ram, as well as their involvement with Signet and the RamCompare project.

Lis King, sheep scientist, talks to sheep consultant, Kate Phillips, about nutrition in sheep in mid to late pregnancy.

Nerys Wright, Knowledge Exchange Manager talks to Challenge Sheep farmer, Matt Blyth from Didling farms about how he Body Condition Scores his flock and, along with tips and tricks for other sheep farmers.

RamCompare events

June 2020 - Sion Williams, Selkirk

July 2020 - Richard Parry, Suffolk

July 2020 - Adrian Coombe, Cornwall

August 2020 - Ian Robertson, Hampshire

Beef clients can now access their recording stationary online. Calving, weigh sheets, calf performance and census forms can all be printed off from the website. This information can also be entered online.

Sheep clients now have the ability to print their own recording stationary, directly from the website. Lambing forms, weigh sheets and the sheep census are all pre-populated with your animals and ready for you to fill in.

Head to the News and Home section of Signetdata.com