Abstract

Lambs yielding proportionally more lean meat are desirable to processing companies as they have a greater quantity of saleable product which also meets market demand withoutthe need for further processing. The quest for higher yielding lean lambs has seen a change in the lamb carcass grading system from classification on carcass weight and the GR measurement (total tissue depth above the 12th rib, 110 mm from the midline) (Kirton, 1989) to using imaging systems such as VIAscan®. VIAscan® is a two dimensional imaging system that estimates lean content of the carcass (Hopkins et al., 2004).

WE, Bain, JC McEwan, NJ McLean, and Johnson PL

Proceedings of the New Zealand Society of Animal Production, Volume 70, Palmerston North, 130-132, 2010