Sheep Industry News August 2024

that are found in many farm flocks. It is interesting that in the United States the Dorset is known more as a maternal breed and our counterparts in Australia use the Dorset as a terminal sire. SGUSA: Both of your breeds have been a little slower adopting Estimated Breeding Values generated by NSIP compared to other commercially relative breeds. What do think is the reasons for this? JAKE: I am not sure the answer to this is clear cut. It seems that in order for a breed to really gain momentum in terms of using NSIP, it is dependent on the use of this technology by a core group of producers who are dedicated to using the data. The effect then trickles down and pretty soon there are a bunch of members of that breed enrolled. I just don’t know if the Dorpers have enough of a core group dedicated to NSIP compiled yet to see that effect. Don’t get

EBVs more than others. Also, the Dorset breed is probably more predominately in smaller farms flocks that aren’t aware of the power of the information that is able to be accessed through NSIP EBVs. SGUSA: Looking at the future, what technologies would you like your fellow breeders to adopt in order to increase positive genetic change in your breed? JAKE: Dorpers were originally brought to the United States because they were really well adapted to an extensive style of management. They were known to produce two nice lambs pretty much exclusively on their own with little supplement. But to me, it is really important that producers understand that this fitness of environment will not always be inherent in the breed if we select for other traits and ignore stuff like parasite resistance/resilience, body condition, body size and reproduc tive ability with the assumption that they will always be “good”

me wrong, there are some Dorper flocks in NSIP doing great things, but the windfall of numerous flocks to follow suit and join the program is still on the horizon. But I also sense some momen tum on that front amongst the industry. That is also certainly not to say that there aren’t a number of

for these traits. These traits mat ter tremendously in commercial production and in many cases, what we don’t select for, we are selecting against. I would very much like to see the Dorper industry have a more widespread adoption of NSIP to help maintain and improve these

progressive non-NSIP breeders who have a strong desire for breed improvement, it just seems that the typing system that is used in South Africa is the more preferred method currently. I believe there is room for all types of evaluation standards. I also believe though that as Dorpers become more popular in regions of the country where parasites are a persistent threat, the fecal egg count EBV might really become an attractive tool for breeders to start using NSIP. Dorpers – in contrast to many of the other hair-type breeds – are fairly susceptible to gastro intestinal parasites and selection for greater resistance is going to continue to be more important into the future. CURT: I think that there are a couple reasons for limited participation in NSIP. Breed association leadership has a lot to do with the emphasis of any of the breed’s programs and some breeds have embraced the power of genetic merit through

traits across the board. As genomic technology expands and develops, there are a multitude of opportunities to incorporate DNA testing to also enhance our ability to identify genetically superior animals. CURT : Regarding future technologies, we probably don’t know what we don’t know. Just recently the relationship be tween worm resistance and other positive immunity factors has been demonstrated, so there will probably be other traits that have an effect on production traits that haven’t been identified yet. The sheep industry has always lagged in the adoption of technology in comparison to other species. Hopefully, we can borrow from the success and avoid some of the failures to advance rapidly in identifying superior genetics that can add efficiency and subsequent profitability.

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