Top-dollar sheep but the data deficit is real

Talk of demise in the sheep sector quickly evaporated last weekend when hundreds of sheep breeders and farmers descended on Kilkenny for the annual Sheep Ireland ram sale.

The ‘five star’ sale has quickly established itself as the ‘go to’ sale for commercial flock owners looking for rams. Darren Carty tells me the average price of rams sold has risen almost 40% in the last five years.

That’s a clear indication that farmers see the sale and the genetics on offer as delivering on farms around Ireland.

Yes, output prices have also lifted over the same period, however, the sale is going from strength to strength, with almost 40% more rams for sale compared to five years ago. So 40% more rams and 40% higher prices.

The ram sale prices matched the 20% to 30% price increase breeding hoggets are achieving at special sales. The boom in the breeding sale prices is great to see and due reward to flock owners who for years were not seeing the premium required to differentiate top genetics from run of the mill sheep.

The record prices and increased numbers of rams on offer could quickly make you think that data recording and genetic improvement are on a steep upward curve.

The fact is that the number of flock owners recording information at key times through the year is still tiny.

Yes, commercial data recorded has doubled in the last 15 years, but the only way to grow confidence in the stars is to increase the amount of high quality commercial data, through initiatives like the Central Progeny Test (CPT).

Thankfully the number of flocks in the Sheep Ireland recording programme LambPlus has grown. Support schemes that reward farmers to buy four or five star rams mean pedigree breeders need to be part of LambPlus to be able to get genetic evaluations on rams.

That’s the entry ticket for them into sales like Kilkenny last weekend. With almost 20,000 sheep farmers in the Department’s support scheme currently required to purchase a high star ram, there is a guaranteed market.

False dawn

So is the LambPlus growth a realisation that performance recording actually pays dividends or a false dawn because farmers are financially supported by the Department?

Over time more participation in recording should flush out poorer genetics and increase better genetics.

Pedigree breeders have to meet the demand from a cohort of 20,000 sheep farmers. However, we need to be conscious feeding and management for sales can camouflage average genetics and make them ‘look’ special for the ‘sale’ day.

Every year, many farmers tell me they buy prize-winning rams only to watch them melt when they are faced with 50 ewes as they come down off intensive meal feeding.

Hence the need to look under the bonnet of sheep progeny testing.

The Central Progeny Test (CPT) for sheep was established in 2009 and now 16 years later, it’s struggling badly with only two flocks involved. It is attempting to identify the best sheep genetics regardless of breed and independent of management.

One quick look at the Sheep Ireland website explains that CPT is ‘critical’, a necessary validation, and a ‘fundamental pillar’. Without CPT, the source of independent commercial data is limited.

Establishing genetic linkage and validation of indexes becomes very hard. You can have all the stars in the world, but if the foundation is weak, you get cracks.

Maybe phenotyping and genotyping more flocks removes the need for CPT? It might be lower investment but is the return lower also? If CPT is struggling, who is to blame?

Is the board of Sheep Ireland resting on its laurels? Are they willing to let high prices cover up any inadequacy?

Has a return on investment project on CPT been commissioned by the board of Sheep Ireland? Does the board of Sheep Ireland need an injection of young, commercially-focused farmers that are dependent on lamb output and greater efficiency?

National discussion?

If CPT is so fundamental, should Teagasc be fuelling a national discussion on this? It is imperative that there is independent research, such as CPT, to show that selecting on stars works so if a time comes where Department funding dries up, commercial farmers recognise purchasing four and five-star sheep is still worth it. I will address hill flock initiatives next week.

If we lose control of genetic improvement and independent data, we get no cumulative and permanent genetic gains and in fact go backwards. Let’s not lose a critical upside for commercial flock owners – at least not without a battle or an explanation.