Latest breed reports from the RamCompare project the UK’s commercial progeny test for terminal sires. To date we have slaughter data included from 468 rams from 17 different breeds, collecting data from over 44,000 lambs in one of the largest trials of its kind.
News
Changes to the Signet Fee Structure for Clients in Wales
In Wales, HCC have supported Signet’s genetic improvement programme for many years; with the Hill Ram Scheme being a major success in introducing genomic technology into national sheep breeding programmes. However for the coming year, budgetary changes mean that HCC are unable to fund:-
- Routine support for Signet’s genetic evaluations for breeders in Wales
- CT scanning (or the genotyping of CT scanned animals) for breeders in Wales
Dorset sheep breeders take carcase traits to a new level
For over 50 years, Poll Dorset and Dorset Horn sheep breeders have measured the performance of lambs on their farms with the aim of enhancing their value at the abattoir.
RamCompare is recruiting new flocks this season
RamCompare is on the look-out for new farms to recruit across England and Wales. The project collects data from birth to slaughter from commercial UK farms. RamCompare host farms provide a minimum of 300 ewes which are mated to performance recorded terminal sires. All flock data is collected using electronic identification (EID) and all commercial lambs are reared as one management group within a fast-finishing system.
AHDB funding to support CT scanning in 2024
AHDB are keen to support performance recording flocks based in England that wish to use SRUC’s CT scanning service. AHDB will provide a support payment to SRUC of £55/lamb to support CT scanning services. Breeders can chose to take their lambs to Edinburgh or go to one of the mobile venues set up by SRUC.
Scoring Wool Shedding in Signet Recorded Flocks
In most wool shedding flocks it is expected that over the course of time a very high proportion of the adult sheep will shed out completely. Breeding evaluations need to pick out the variation between animals, so scores need to be collected before the entire flock has shed their fleece (and score the same!)
RamCompare nominations open for 2024
RamCompare nominations are now open and we encourage you to consider putting your rams forward as new natural service rams or sell frozen semen for use in artificial insemination programmes for the 2024 mating season.
Farm Event - Breeding for better carcases and the genomic opportunity
Friday, 24 May 2024, 11:00am - 3:30pm, Sandlands Farm, Frisby on the Wreake, Melton Mowbray, Leicestershire, LE14 2NS
At this event, we will introduce the value of genomics (the study of genes) and explain how important it is for future ram breeding decisions. We will help you to understand how to use performance traits to benefit your pedigree flock or your commercial lamb enterprise.
New Signet publications for terminal sires
Signet has recently updated the range of publications for terminal sire breeders, find electronic copies of the booklet in this article.
A Genomic outlook for sheep genetic evaluations
Genomic information enables predictions of genetic merit to be made using measures of an animal’s DNA, rather than being solely reliant on data derived from measurements taken on them and their relatives. Genomic approaches do not replace our current genetic analyses but build on them – introducing an additional genomic step that greatly increases the accuracy of our predictions.