Nominate your sire for the 2025 Resource Flock joining
18 September 2024
Ram producers have until the end of September to nominate their rams for the 2025 Resource Flock joining.
The Resource Flock was established in 2012 and has enabled the development of genomically enhanced Australian Sheep Breeding Values (ASBVs) for ‘hard-to-measure’ traits.
MLA’s Sheep Genetics Manager Peta Bradley said the flock is crucial to deliver value to Sheep Genetics clients.
“The Resource Flock helps to underpin our MERINOSELECT and LAMBPLAN genetic evaluations. Producers can genotype young animals and receive accurate ASBVs for traits they wouldn’t usually be able to measure on-farm,” Peta said.
Until the end of September, ram breeders can nominate their sires to be used in the Resource Flock.
The progeny from these matings are genotyped and measured throughout their life through to slaughter, where a range of post-slaughter measurements are taken.
“I would encourage Sheep Genetics clients to nominate sires; there is an opportunity for many breeds to be involved,” Peta said.
“Sires in the Resource Flock will be some of the first to receive research breeding values for new traits which we’ve never seen before in sheep, including methane output, and feed intake.”
With approximately 120 sires to be selected, selection criteria will prioritise diversity from the existing flock, younger animals, and representation of the breed in the industry.
MLA Group Manager for Adoption and Commercial Services Sarah Strachan said the accuracy of ASBVs for key traits like eating quality relies on having a genomic reference population such as the Resource Flock.
“Without the Resource Flock, we predict within five years the accuracy for key traits in our genetic evaluations would decay,” Sarah said.
“It underpins the engine behind Sheep Genetics and is the perfect vehicle for MLA to deliver our research and development straight to Sheep Genetics clients, and ultimately all sheep producers” Sarah said.
“Sheep Genetics has world-leading genetic evaluations that utilise genomic information in cutting-edge ways. This means everyone benefits from the information that is captured.
“It enables producers to select for key traits, from sustainability to eating quality.”
Since the establishment of the flock, several new ASBVs have been developed using data from the Resource Flock. These traits include intramuscular fat (IMF), shear force (SF5), and lean meat yield (LMY).
The availability of these traits, along with advancements in Sheep Genetics evaluations, has enabled Terminal sire producers to achieve a 23% improvement in SF5 and a 14% increase in IMF, while also enhancing LMY by 16%.
The Resource Flock has also been useful to overlay across other projects such as the calibration of carcase and meat quality measurement devices.
The Resource Flock is delivered through project partner UNE with the Animal Genetics and Breeding Unit (AGBU) with contributions from Murdoch University, DPIRD WA and Sheep Genetics.
Sire nominations for the 2025 joining close 30 September 2024.
