Page 4 - Commercial Suffolks 2019

Welcome to our first edition of Commercial Suffolks. The
Suffolk breed has been to the forefront of the UK & Irish
sheep meat industry since the 1800’s and the Suffolk
ram is still the leading domestic terminal sire throughout
the UK and Ireland.

While much of the focus of the Society over the summer months is
on the pedigree show and sale season, the Society is fully aware that
this has to be underpinned with a product that meets the requirements
of the commercial farmer. In this Autumn edition we are presenting a
number of testimonials from around the UK and Ireland which show the
versatility of the Suffolk as a terminal sire from the farmers perspective.
A big thank you to all involved in bringing this together.
Recent studies by AHDB/Signet’s Ramcompare project and the Ulster
University’s Food and Consumer Testing Suite have highlighted the
benefits of the Suffolk breed for both producers and the consumers.
Not only do Suffolks finish faster and outperform other breeds
for muscle depth, Suffolk sired meat is also first choice for 70% of
consumers with key attributes being taste, flavour and texture.
You may have seen on our Social Media a series of short videos that
have focused on Suffolk sired lamb as number one for finishing, number
one for taste and number one for the industry. One of the articles in this
edition features the producer and butcher used in these videos. A big
thanks to Scott Brown (Capielaw Flock) for pulling these together and
to commercial sheep farmer Alan Smellie of Kailzie Mains Farm and
butcher Mike Forsyth of award winning Forsyth’s butchers Peebles in
the Scottish Borders, for giving up of their valuable time to be involved.
Robin McIlrath
Chief Executive & Breed Secretary