The Texas heat and unrelenting winds are drying things out in the San Angelo area. Luckily, at my house, we received some heavy rains, which we were very thankful to receive. Prior to that large cracks in the ground were starting to show up. These rains have been very spotty. Hopefully, you were lucky enough to get some, as well.
This month, I’d like to take a break from parasites and discuss another topic I have rather strong opinions about (backed up by science, of course). The topic is performance-based genetic selection.
In Texas and for most of the U.S., selection decisions of sheep and goats are based largely on visual appraisal. In contrast, significant genetic advancements have occurred in other livestock species, such as beef cattle, dairy cattle, poultry and swine, through performance-oriented selection.
Not to discredit visual appraisal of livestock, it is important to breed animals that are sound. Hence, the reason we have stock shows and livestock judging as part of our Texas 4H youth programs. However, I think the competitiveness of these events have over-emphasized visual appraisal of livestock as it pertains to commercial production.
There are numerous traits that are commercially important we cannot assess without performance information. For instance, reproductive rate and parasite resistance are difficult to see. Growth rate, carcass merit, and fiber production can be estimated visually but are strongly influenced by management, which is quite often unknown when purchasing from other breeders. Therefore, even the traits we can visually estimate are better deciphered if we measure them.
There is one exception of performance testing that has been used extensively in Texas. Texas A&M has had a centralized ram performance test for well over 50 years. It started in Sonora and now is in San Angelo. In general, the test measures the growth potential and wool production of finewool ram lambs from September to February. This test has had a large impact on breeding finewool sheep that are larger, grow faster, grow more wool, and grow higher quality wool. This test cannot, and was not designed to, measure reproductive traits, parasite resistance, or fitness to environment. All of which are extremely important for ranch profitability. Performance recording at the ranch is the best place to get this data.
So, why has much of the Texas sheep and goat industry overlooked performance-oriented genetic selection? I think it is a combination of many things. But let’s not dwell on the past but learn from how others made it successful. Then we can begin to move forward as an industry.
The breed associations were largely responsible for the adoption of this technology in beef cattle. In the 1980s and 1990s, breed associations encouraged their registered breeders to collect performance information, such as birth and weaning weights, and processed this information to generate Expected Progeny Differences or EPDs. Registered breeders then used these EPDs to market bulls to commercial ranchers.
Sheep breed associations did not have the financial resources or staff to provide this service to their breeders. Therefore, industry organizations and university folks got together and created the National Sheep Improvement Program (NSIP) in 1986. This program provides a similar service to sheep and goat breeders of any breed. Sadly, some 30 years after its creation, this program is still an unknown entity to most of the Texas sheep and goat industry. One of my career goals is to bring awareness and understanding of this program to this historic industry.
Like many of you, I too was unaware of this program until I began my PhD program in Montana. Dr. Rodney Kott, my PhD Advisor and Fredericksburg native, introduced me to this technology. He worked with many registered breeders, who sold rams at the Montana Ram Sale. Most of the sheep breeders raised Targhee sheep and the Targhee breed association was very supportive of their efforts.
The thing that impressed me most was the commercial ranchers that came to the Montana Ram Sale. They pored over the data in the ram sale catalog and found the rams they wanted to bid on. Then they went to the pens and took a look at the rams. Once bidding started, it was clear that if the rams had good data, they sold at a significant premium compared to rams without data or with below average data.
This year at the Texas Sheep and Goat Expo (Aug. 18/19 in San Angelo), we will have a session to make folks more aware of how this technology works. Dr. Dan Waldron, Texas A&M AgriLife Research San Angelo, will present on “Why is performance data important in selecting breeding animals?” and Dr. Joan Burke, USDA, Agricultural Research Service in Booneville AK, will present on “Using genetics to combat parasite issues.”
A highlight will be a ram sale at the conclusion of the Expo (2 p.m., Aug 19) with 15 Rambouillet and 8 Katahdin rams that have been selected using centralized ram tests or NSIP. Rams must be in the top 50 percent of the breed or test to be eligible.
The 2016/2017 Texas A&M Ram Test winner and top-indexing rams will be offered in this sale. NSIP Rambouillet breeders from Texas, Kansas, South Dakota, and Montana are bringing some of their best yearlings.
NSIP Katahdin breeders from Arkansas, Missouri, and Wisconsin are bringing yearlings and ram lambs selected for growth, reproductive rate and parasite resistance. The average EBV of the Katahdin rams consigned for number of lambs weaned and weaning fecal egg count are 15 and negative 66 percent, respectively. This means that daughters of these rams will wean 7.5 percent more lambs and have a 33 percent lower parasite load than the average Katahdin.
I’m excited about the opportunities the sheep and goat industry will have heading into the future. I hope you are, too.
Future articles will address NSIP and performance recording in more detail. For more information or to provide feedback on this article or request topics for future articles, contact me at reid.redden@ag.tamu.edu or 325-653-4576.