Sheep Industry News August 2025

a big leap for buyers to start rewarding these progressive con signors, as most had cattle and had been buying bulls based on “EPDs” for years. The key was to make it as simple as possible for the buyer. One of the problems affecting adoption of these records by buyers was the extreme variation in traits reported by con signors (each consignor reported a different set of traits), leading to difficulty for buyers to compare the records. In that effort, MSU developed a production index which put the more important traits together into one number for Montana range producers. That index, designed to sort the better genetic testing rams to the top, is now the Western Range Index. Also, MSU identified a standard set of data that should be reported and developed a sale information catalog. Longtime consignor Carolyn Green, of Melville, likes to say she was not inhibited by experience when deciding to develop an extensive recordkeeping system for her registered Targhee flock. She started with a 3” x 5” notecard system recording ewe performance records; transitioned to the farm flock ration developed by MSU; and ultimately enrolled in NSIP. Her goal was always to produce genetics that were better than a com mercial producer already had. She said the primary purpose of the sale was to provide rams in their working clothes with pertinent production data for range producers, and the sale was one of the highlights of her life—seeing old friends and making new. Cord Bieber, the current Montana Ram Sale Committee Chair and commercial producer, says buyers have a desire for data. They can select the animals with the traits they are looking for to improve their flocks. NSIP is a tool that facili tates that opportunity. Seedstock operations utilizing NSIP

Initially, the importance of multiple births was stressed in educational programs, and producers quickly realized—in the absence of any other measures of reproductive performance— the importance of favoring twins in selection programs. Twin rams were routinely bringing premiums at the ram sale. By the ’70s, MSU had introduced the concept of utilizing an “on farm” performance testing program that measured weaning weight, post-weaning gain, and wool weight, and within-flock ratios were calculated. In the mid-’80s, a twinning rate ratio (based on the dam’s number of lambs born and the opportuni ties to lamb) and measured wool micron were added. Ram sale buyers quickly recognized that these records were an important tool in their ram selection program. Consignors that embraced these records flourished, and those that resisted slowly dropped out of the sale. When NSIP became available, several key consignors embraced the program. The key is these producers recognized the value of the program and used it in their own selection program. Ram sale buyers noticed the extent to which these consignors were utilizing NSIP in their selection program and started paying attention. It really wasn’t

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