Hub for sheep flock

11-01-2010 | Not Specified

Demonstrating the impact of genetics on sheep farmers' bottom lines is one of the goals of the Meat and Wool New Zealand Central Progeny Test (CPT).

Established in 2001 by the Alliance Group, the CPT aims to increase genetic linkages between the various breeds and strains that make up the New Zealand sheep flock.

The CPT was set up to gain greater understanding of lamb growth and carcase merit and their underlying genetics. It is the hub driving the genetic improvement of this country's sheep flock.

Increasing the number and robustness of these genetic linkages enables important comparisons to be made between rams regardless of their breed, strain or genetic makeup. Without them SIL's SIL ACE, which benchmarks genetic performance between breeds and within flocks, would not be possible.

Funded for the first three years by Alliance, the CPT is now funded by Meat & Wool New Zealand. Since its establishment, it has evaluated 169 industry sires spread across 25 terminal and 11 dual-purpose breeds.

The CPT encompasses three sites - AgResearch's Woodlands farm, Lincoln University's Ashley Dene and On-farm Research's Poukawa site in Hawke's Bay where rams are evaluated over relatively uniform groups of ewes.

While it is viewed by some as an industry-wide, head-to-head comparison of each ram's performance, it should not be seen as a league table. While rams used in the CPT presumably represent leading sires from each breed group, there are rams among all breeds that perform well and some that do not.

AbacusBio's Neville Jopson says that besides connecting stud flocks together, the CPT is proving to be a valuable research resource for gaining a greater understanding of new and novel traits. These include those involved with carcase merit, saleable meat yield and now bareness of breeches and bellies. Often these traits are difficult or costly to measure in a commercial environment.

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