Sheep Industry News August 2022

Collaboration Guides Sheep GEMS Project

S heep GEMS was born in January as a collaboration between the American sheep industry, two land-grant universities and three U.S. Department of Agriculture Agricultural Research Service locations. GEMS’ aim is two-fold. First, to incorporate innovations in molecular technologies into routine genetic evaluation of American sheep. Second, to broaden the scope of those evaluations to improve the robustness and climatic resilience of our fl cks. With funding from the USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture and the American sheep industry, both aims are in reach. Th is article summarizes excerpts from interviews with members of the Sheep GEMS team. Th ough their words, it tells the full story about the ambitions and relevance of this project. Dr. Ron Lewis is a geneticist at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, and Technical Advisor for the National Sheep Improvement Program. He is also the Project Director for Sheep GEMS. “Why the name Sheep GEMS?” He explained. “Th acronym GEMS stands for Genetics, Environment, Management and Society, all of which are captured in the project. As a further play on words, we are very hopeful the outcomes will be gems to our industry.” Apparently, a key element of Sheep GEMS is to work in partnership with sheep producers, particularly those engaged in NSIP. Why is that important? “For this project to truly matter, our discoveries must be seen as im portant enough to be adopted by the industry," Lewis said. "By seeking the input and involvement of producers from the start, we believe we can foster the commitment and enthusiasm to achieve just that. As the bottom line, Sheep GEMS is about joining together records collected on-farm and on-ranch – some new and some traditional, with informa

tion at the DNA level – to do a better job of evaluating our sheep. It is through the structure of NSIP, that combination is possible.” Sheep GEMS has a project advisory board made up of key industry groups. Tom Boyer, a third-generation rancher and the chair of Sheep Genetics USA, is also the chair of the Sheep GEMS Board. “I see a variety of roles for this board, including encouraging eligible fl ock producers to participate in the project," Boyer said. "In the world of data – particularly production-related data – the more we have, the better. We need Rambouillet, Su ff olk and Polypay producers to become passionately engaged in GEMS. Th fourth breed, Katahdin, has set the participation standard as they are already anxiously engaged in the project. “Our role also involves keeping a focus on the scope of work, mileposts and achievements gained along the way, and disseminating results. Receiving input from and keeping each industry group up to date on project status will maximize outcomes and project success.” How do you think the planned outcomes will best serve and ben efi t the industry? “ Th is project has the potential to create a paradigm s hift in the U.S. sheep industry. Th is is the fi rst time for a project of this size and scope to focus on the foundational genetic building blocks. Viewing resilience, adaptability and key productivity traits through a combined genetic and environmental [climatic] lens will provide exciting new insights into advances that will provide quantum leaps in selective breeding and management.” Dr. Luiz Brito is at Purdue University specializing in quantitative genetics and genomics. He also is the co-director of Sheep GEMS. Brito was asked about the aims of improving robustness and climatic resilience. What do those terms mean? “Robustness is an animal’s ability to remain healthy and productive within a defi ed environment or set of management conditions. In the same line, climatic resilience is the animal’s ability to either be mini mally aff cted by or recover from changes in climatic conditions, such as extremes in temperature or humidity." Why do they matter? “Most U.S. sheep are raised in pasture-based systems or in facili ties with limited environmental control," Brito explained. "Th erefore, animals need to be able to cope with various environmental challenges, including thermal stress, gastrointestinal parasites, low-quality pastures and greater prevalence of infectious diseases. Th se stressors negatively infl uence animal survival, productivity and well-being, and conse quently, the profi ability of sheep farms. “As climate change becomes more evident, extreme climatic events

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