An industry meeting to discuss updates to genetic evaluations for Ireland’s national sheep breeding improvement programme took place recently in Tullamore, Co. Offaly.

The meeting on Thursday, December 11 was hosted by Sheep Ireland and the updated evaluations are expected to be implemented in early 2026.

At the meeting, attendees heard from Teagasc and Sheep Ireland researchers who provided presentations and addressed questions relating to the updates.

The event brought together industry stakeholders, including:

LambPlus members;
Researchers;
Breed societies;
Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM);
Other industry representatives.

The presentations explained how the latest scientific findings will translate into "meaningful improvements on the ground", according to Sheep Ireland.

Speakers were joined by two LambPlus farmer members on a panel discussion taking questions from the floor.

Key messages for 2026 sheep €uroStars evaluations

The vast majority of animals are expected to maintain their current rankings, with some individual animals having minor movements, according to Sheep Ireland.

"Like all previous years' evaluations, there will be a cohort of animals that will be ranked higher or lower with the new evaluation updates but most importantly the overall result will be an acceleration of genetic progress," the entity said.

With enhanced data and a more up-to-date economic modelling, Sheep Ireland says the programme is designed to:

Improve breeding efficiency (faster progress in lamb survival, lambing ease, lamb vigour, and maintaining growth);
Enable more genetic gain within flocks;
Ensure breeding targets align with both market demands and sustainability goals by slowing methane emissions.

A statement from Sheep Ireland said: "The industry meeting underscored a clear message: 'Through innovation in genetics, sustainability, and economic modelling, the national breeding programme is set to deliver powerful tools that will help farmers to achieve consistently better results, breeding more efficient animals and systems'."

The implementation of farmers using 5-Star terminal rams is estimated to deliver additional profit to the industry of €15 million, while industry implementation of 5-Star replacement rams is estimated to deliver additional profit to the industry of €20 million.

The three main topics of discussion on the day were:

Updated economic values reflecting net profit and variable costs;
Breeding for worm resistance through faecal egg count;
Breeding more efficiently by reducing carbon footprint while not affecting performance traits.

The updates to the economic values come following Teagasc’s latest updates to the bio-economic model which introduce more up-to-date costings "driving an overall increase in most economic values".

Breakthroughs in FEC research are enabling breeders to identify animals with genetic resistance to worms.

By incorporating this data into €uroStars evaluations, farmers will be able to breed sheep that require fewer treatments, thereby lowering labour and veterinary costs while improving flock genetic resistance.

"This marks a major step forward in long-term, sustainable flock health management," according to Sheep Ireland.

Lowering methane emissions

Famers will also be able to genetically select sheep that produce lower methane emissions without unfavourable impacts on performance traits.

The research presented indicated that reducing carbon footprint through breeding indexes "supports national climate goals without compromising productivity".

"These updates position Irish sheep farmers competitively while contributing to a more sustainable future."

Sheep Ireland thanked all panellists who presented and contributed and Dr. Donagh Berry who chaired the meeting as well as all who contributed to the discussions.