Beef + Lamb New Zealand has released a new Sheep Genetics Learning Module at a time of year when sheep farmers are buying rams and thinking about selecting ewe replacements.
The 30-minute module is available on B+LNZ’s Knowledge Hub and will take commercial farmers through the step-by-step process of identifying their breeding objectives, using ram selection tools and useful sale-day questions to ensure genetics are fit for purpose.
This includes finding the right breeder and recognizing the right rams for individual farmers’ specific needs and breeding objectives. A mix of objective and subjective approaches.
The module will help farmers decipher documents that are presented at ram sales and understand the jargon and abbreviations along with genetic trend graphs.
Sarah Powdrell, Beef + Lamb New Zealand’s Genetics Operation Sheep Specialist says the module is a valuable tool to help farmers find the genetics that meet the requirements of their particular farming systems in their particular environment.
“There is no one-size-fits-all approach to genetics and what might suit one system, won’t suit necessarily the neighbour. It is a matter of being clear about what you want from your genetics and narrowing down the search accordingly. We have some fantastic tools, such as nProve, to help farmers do this.”
Sarah says she would encourage all farmers to jump on the module just to remind themselves of what they are trying to achieve from their sheep genetics and to help clarify their thinking, particularly at this time of year.
Check out B+LNZ's Sheep genetics learning module.