A long history of genetic progress
To measure the progress of sheep breeding in this country, Australian woolgrowers should consider the animals of industry pioneer John Macarthur. In 1826, Captain Macarthur’s prized Merino flock was described thus: “…The ewes I saw would not weigh more than 30 to 34lbs [13.6 to 15.4 kilograms] each. Their wool was exceedingly fine but certainly not dense.”
Since then, the Merino industry has constantly changed and progressed in order to meet the demands of current and future markets, says Dr Troy Fischer, AWI’s sheep productivity program manager.
“New technologies and practices are being used by ram breeders to respond to market signals, and in the process they are making considerable improvements in the productivity and profitability of their clients’ flocks,” Dr Fischer says. “In our industry, genetic improvement is particularly important, as it is permanent and gains are accumulated with each generation.”
Dr Fischer describes the tools now available to stud and commercial breeders – and those in the pipeline – as exciting and suggests they will have the ability to increase the rate of genetic gain to a level never seen before. Irrespective of the sheep breeding system used, genetic evaluation tools provide a means to help woolgrowers select the sheep most suited to their long-term breeding objective and respond to environmental challenges and profitability goals.
“At AWI we do not advocate one breeding strategy alone, but suggest there are a suite of tools available that woolgrowers can utilise to their advantage,” Dr Fischer says. “Research such as that conducted with the Selection Demonstration Flock in South Australia over 10 years demonstrates that significant gains can be made using different selection methods: whether it be classer-assessed or performance index, all methods moved the flock closer towards their goals. Some methods move you there faster than others, but it is up to woolgrowers to decide which system they will implement.”
AWI supports three forms of genetic benchmarking – Sheep Genetics Australia (SGA), Merino Superior Sires and the Merino Bloodline Package – which assess performance at the progeny, sire and bloodline level respectively.
“Genetic benchmarking information is one of the most powerful tools available to Australian woolgrowers,” Dr Fischer says. “It allows us not only to identify the best sires and bloodlines, but systems like SGA also allow an across-flock evaluation of Merino performance to identify the most productive animals nationwide.”
In addition, AWI is expanding the range of genetic tools available to woolgrowers. Each is in development and will be available soon.
They include:
- additional traits in SGA, which will add to the already substantial resource of information;
- a genetics best-management-practice module, which will give woolgrowers a one-stop shop for better understanding of the available genetic knowledge and its application; and
- DNA-based tests for parentage and performance traits, as well as ways of integrating this information into breeding systems through AWI and MLA-funded research in SheepGenomics and the Sheep Cooperative Research Centre (CRC) for Industry Innovation.
Photo by Sheep Genetics Australia
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