Sheep Industry News January 2025

then chief financial officer of the foundation. The late Hudson Glimp – a newly appointed sheep spe cialist at the university’s Experiment Station – and Ray mond ‘Skip’ Avansino Jr. – then chairperson of the Wiegand Foundation – embarked on a concept development project with generous support from the foundation to create a new Merino breed by crossbreeding Rambouillet sheep with Australian Merinos. “The desire to develop a flock that produces both high quality meat and extra fine, premium wool, while also retaining the Rambouillet’s hardiness and low-maintenance traits that enable it to thrive in extreme weather, was the impetus for this project,” said Gary McCuin, Eureka County Extension educator and a former director of the center. Glimp and Avansino spearheaded the purchase of the initial breeding stock of approximately 400 Rambouillet ewes from ranches in Montana and the Dakotas, and had the ewes relocated to the Rafter 7 Ranch. “That was the initiation and beginning of the Rafter 7 Merino herd,” McCuin said. GENETIC DEVELOPMENT (1990 – 2006) During the next 16 years, Glimp and his team – including

Tom Filbin, the first sheep manager of the new flock – im ported Australian Merino rams and semen from Australia, which they bred both naturally and artificially into the origi nal breeding stock of Rambouillet ewes. “During this period, around 16 rams and semen from 41 Australian rams were imported to enhance the Rambouillet’s genetic pool,” said Andrew Hess, an assistant professor of animal breeding and genetics in the College’s Department of Agriculture, Veterinary & Rangeland Sciences who has been assisting in developing the breeding program and conduct ing genetic research at the center. “The ewe selection crite ria included parameters such as wool fiber diameter, fleece weight, growth rate and reproductive performance traits.” After successive phases of insemination, the project developed two distinct breeding lines. The Rafter 7 Pure Merino line was developed by a grade-up program where the imported semen was progressively bred into the Rambouil let ewes until they became 100 percent Merino. During this process, breeders observed that the Rafter 7 line – which is approximately 60 percent Merino and 40 percent Rambouil let – exhibited favorable characteristics and was subsequent ly developed. “The Rafter 7 Pure Merino line’s wool fiber diameter was

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