Abstract

In the 10 years that Sheep Improvement Ltd (SIL) has been operational, the system has continued to develop to meet the needs of breeding flock owners and their ram buying clients. New traits have been added to the evaluation. More flocks are using across-flock evaluations, but there is the opportunity to grow this significantly. The language of SIL is well accepted by industry and offers the most likely path to integration of DNA based genetics into the sheep industry. While a large proportion of rams used by the New Zealand sheep industry come from SIL flocks, a significant section of the industry are still not comfortable with SIL figures when purchasing rams. Greater penetration into the ram buying industry and further into the meat processing industry are challenges for SIL and its collaborators. SIL must maintain and enhance its relevance to industry. This means focused research that addresses key issues and a significant extension effort to increase the proportion of industry that has confidence in using SIL and related technologies.

MJ, Young, and R Wakelin

Proceedings of the New Zealand Society of Animal Production, Volume 69, Christchurch, 148-152, 2009