There is huge value for sheep farmers in collecting data on their flocks, with the knowledge and information which can be derived from it enabling better decision making.
Texel Sheep Society chief executive John Yates said collaboration and data collection had been at the heart of the project disemination at this year’s Smarter Sheep Farming conference, Edinburgh, organised by SRUC, Texel Sheep Society, University of Edinburgh and Abacus Bio.
“The studies presented had been part funded by the EU2020 Smarter project, focused on breeding for resiience and resistance to disease, in which the Society was a partner. The Society also presented some best practice applied through its services, for genetic improvement, data management and knowledge exchange, core areas that the Society has invested heavily in,” explained Mr Yates.
“As the most popular sire breed in the GB sheep industry and with a major influenceon the national flock, Texels have a huge role to play in ensuring profitability and sustainability in sheep production.
“Development of data collection and evaluation technologies as well as a better understanding of the impact genetic selection can have is vital for the future of the breed and the industry.”
Speaking at the conference, Ed Smith, data and technical services manager for the Texel Sheep Society said data was vital to breed development, with the Society focussing on production and health traits, with environmental traits also becoming an important focus in the next few years.
“It is essential to convert this data to knowledge and sustain data collection across generations to maximise the breeding opportunities it creates. Combining phenotype and genotype data collection is paramount going forwards to increase the impact of the breeding goal,” he added.
Mr Yates said the Society continues to invest in digital resources to future proof delivery of its registry and genetic improvement services to members and enable easier data collection and dissemination of information.
Recent studies carried out by renowned genetics and economic consultany business Abacus Bio and presented at the conference showed the historic and future economic and environmental influence of genetic improvement of the Texel breed.
The value of data to the breed and the industry was explained by Abacus Bio’s Tom Kirk who said the introduction of new economic indexes in the Texel breed could apply an increased benefit of £1.2m a year to the industry. “This is on top of the £23.5m that Texels already add to the UK sheep industry.
“These new indexes, being launched to Texel members in spring 2023, will allow breeders and their customers to more easily understand the potential impact a ram will have on their flocks, whether using Texels as a terminal sire or to breed maternal replacements,” he explained.
Looking at the impact of breeding decisions, researchers said it was essential to fully understand the relationship between key commercial traits and other desirable production, health and environmental traits.
Researcher Andrea Doeschl-Wilson of the Roslin Institute said breeding for resilient traits in sheep populations was possible, but should only be done when the impact of breeding for these traits on other traits is fully understood.
“We define resilience as the ability to maintain condition or revert quickly to good condition following a challenge. Breeding for resilience could be highly profitable, but it will require lots of data from different environments and challenges,” she added.
Abacus Bio’s Tim Byrne supported this view when presenting the findings from a French study which looked at how selection for resilience and efficiency traits impact breeding programes. “Functional longevity and feed efficiency are considered to be resilience traits, but there are gaps in the knowledge in the relationships between feed efficiency and other traits,” he explained.
Meanwhile, SRUC researcher Nicola Lambe said work looking at whether rumen size can impact greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from sheep, which the Texel Society is contributing to with access to CT data and use of texelplus performance rams, showed there were useful traits emerging to measure and predict traits associated with resilience, efficiency and GHG emissions. “However, there are potential issues with selecting for reduced rumen volume in some breed populations as this can impact on the animal’s ability to digest fibrous material, essential for breeds more suited to upland and hill environments.
“Again it is vital to fully understand the genetic relationships between traits in relevant sheep systems before making wholescale breeding decisions,” she explained.
Mr Yates stated that, from a Society perspective, he had welcomed the opportunity to be involved in these research studies. “The collaboration has been impactful to all involved, and provides further opportunity to grow the Society’s research resources, potentially supporting new research activity, while the Texel breed continues to meet the needs of commercial producers.
“With healthy animals performing better and having lower environmental impacts, continued investment in genetic improvement in our livestock breeds is essential if we are to provide the solutions to the many challenges facing global communities.