Texel wins carcass contest again

For the 6th time in 7 years, a Texel lamb exhibited by Sherm and Bev Pearsall from Thurmont, Maryland, has won the carcass contest at the Maryland Sheep & Wool Festival. In the Festival contest, realtime ultrasound is used to determine carcass characteristics.

The winning lamb was an 87-lb. Texel ram lamb born on February 18th. It scanned a 2.55 square inch ribeye with only 0.10 inches of backfat. Its yield grade was 1.4. It was the only lamb in the contest with more than 50% boneless closely trimmed retail cuts (BCTRC).

The lamb with the highest lean rate-of-gain was a 102-lb. Suffolk exhibited by Kelly Vorac. Its lean rate-of-gain was 0.28 lbs. per day. Its overall gain was 1.05 lbs. per day.

There were 12 lambs and 7 exhibitors in the this year's contest. Next year's contest may include an evaluation contest. In an evaluation contest, participants would handle the lambs and estimate carcass characteristics. Awards would be given to the participants whose predictions come closest to the ultrasound results.

The Maryland Sheep & Wool Festival is always the first full weekend in May.