Sheep Industry Meeting Report

• On Tuesday 11th April a Sheep Industry Meeting took place in Teagasc Athenry. The meeting was very well attended by a wide cross section of the sheep industry. The main objective of the meeting was to present plans for the continuation of genomic research for pedigree sheep breeders. In order for this research to continue, genotyping of breeding stock entering pedigree breed societies must continue. The breeds where we hope genomic evaluations can make a contribution are Texel, Charollais, Suffolk, Belclare, Vendeen and Beltex.
• Unfortunately at this moment in time, other sheep breeds in Ireland do not have sufficient performance records to facilitate genomic evaluations.

The main messages in relation to 2017 genotyping from the meeting were as follows;

•  A genotyping service will be available to breeders in 2017.
• This genotyping is being carried out on a new SNP chip which has been sourced at the best possible price of €16 (includes DNA extraction, chip cost, processing costs and postage costs). This price does not include a DNA tag cost (€2) and does not factor in a tagger cost (€26 incl postage).
• This genotyping will be heavily subsidised for breeders that took part in OVIGEN in the past.
  • Cost per female genotype – €3 (*plus €2 for a DNA tag)
  • Cost per male genotype – €6 (*plus €2 for a DNA tag) *A DNA tag may not be required for all animals as Sheep Ireland has the DNA of a large number of sheep in storage.
• High priority animals to be genotyped are:-
  • 2015 and 2016 females that have been selected as replacements in pedigree flocks that previously took part in OVIGEN
  • Genotyping of stock rams and AI sires used in recent years that have not yet been genotyped.
• Breeders will have the option to genotype 2017 born lambs. However Sheep Ireland must warn all breeders that no guarantee can be given that parentage results will be available in advance of premier sales.
• Scrapie – It is not yet 100% certain if scrapie results will be available from the new SNP chip that we are now using. Scrapie was included on the SNP chip and we are now working on interpreting the results. If this stage is successful, the next stage will be to validate the scrapie results against the results of other recognised/approved scrapie testing laboratories. We will need to ensure that all results correlate before any final decision on the accuracy of the SNP chip to provide Scrapie genotypes can be made. This process will take a number of months.
• Genomic breeding values will be generated later this year and a period of testing will need to take place. This process will likely involve circulating ‘test’ proofs to breeders for opinion and feedback
• Web screens to allow previous OVIGEN participants to select animals for genotyping (and DNA tag ordering) are currently in the final stages of development and will be available to breeders in the coming days – letters detailing the above information will be circulated in advance.

Other presentations from the meeting

• Eamon Wall, Sheep Ireland began the meeting with a general update on the Sheep Ireland programme. The key messages from this presentation were in relation to genetic linkage and the LambPlus ram sale. In 2018, €uro-Star evaluations will not be published for ‘unlinked’ flocks. This is a decision made by the Board of Sheep Ireland. Unlinked flocks have been contacted by Sheep Ireland in the past and will be contacted in 2017 again. These flocks will need to put plans in place for the 2017 mating season to link their flock. The LambPlus sale will go ahead in 2017 on the 4th Saturday in August. Among the entry criteria will be a minimum requirement based on each flocks’ Data Quality Index (DQI). In 2016 a minimum DQI of 50% applied. In 2017 this will rise to 60%. Breeders will need to ensure that all required data is captured at this point in the season to ensure they meet this requirement.
• Michael Diskin of Teagasc presented a summary of the extensive sheep research programme currently in progress within Teagasc and in association with industry partners. Discussion after this presentation centred mainly on the hill lamb finishing trial which is ongoing in Athenry and results from this trial on feed efficiency and meat eating quality.
• Michael Gottstein detailed the currently Knowledge Transfer programme within Teagasc with a good discussion afterwards on the factors contributing to the lack of industry progress on a key driver of profitability on sheep farms, the number of lambs weaned per ewe mated. This figure (1.3) has remained static in recent decades.
• Thierry Pabiou then presented an update on genetic evaluation updates. The main updates to report are the inclusion of a new health index in both the Terminal and Replacement Index. The inclusion of these traits will not cause any noticeable animal re-ranking as they account for a small % of the overall indexes. In 2016 a large amount of carcase data from our CPT lambs was collected throughout the year and a summary of this information was presented. Discussion afterwards explored the subject of Sheep Ireland collecting routine carcase data from all Irish sheep plants into the future.
• Noirin McHugh and Donagh Berry delivered thorough presentations on the results of genotyping to date and where we need to go from here. Eamon Wall followed with a proposal for the continuation of genotyping into 2017 and there was general agreement that this proposal was a good one when, Sean Fair, Chairman of the meeting put the question to the room. Details of this proposal are as outlined above.
• The day closed with a visit to the INZAC research flock which is being lead up by Fiona McGovern with the help of Henry Walsh. Fiona gave an update on the progress of the trial and gave some early performance results. A more thorough report on the visit is available from the IFJ by clicking here. Another report is available on Agriland by clicking here.