The first evaluation of this year with the 2024-born lambs included, has recently been published by Sheep Ireland.
The first evaluation can be a milestone for breeders as they get their first glimpse of how their 2024 lamb crop has been ranked.
The genomic evaluation will be running every week, so breeders can expect changes while new animals and data are being recorded, along with the genomic information added after genotyping.
Sheep Ireland has said there has not been any updates made to the evaluation for 2024. Any move in an animal’s rankings is due to new data being included in its evaluations.
Last year, some updates were made to the genetic evaluation model:
- Ewe mothering ability trait was included in the replacement index;
- Accounting for the mating type of the ewe in the number of lambs born and barreness EBVs (estimated breeding values);
- Blackface Mountain strains (based on genomic analysis) were grouped as one breed in the genetic evaluations;
- Breed solutions for days to slaughter and number of lambs born (NLB) were improved.
Relative emphasis on the indices
Sheep Ireland has provided the current relative emphasis for each index below.
The organisation said these changes increased the model’s accuracy by a few points, which gave them confidence to improve the breed improvement programme.
Before any changes to the genetic evaluation model are released, they are presented to the technical advisory group (TAG), which is comprised of two international experts, an Irish expert, and a Sheep Ireland board member.
Only changes this group agree upon are technically correct and are brought forward to the Sheep Ireland board for approval.
The organisation has said this process increases the robustness and oversight of the genomic evaluation.
Reducing methane emissions in sheep
Last year, Sheep Ireland also launched new breeding values for sheep aimed at reducing methane emissions and supporting the delivery of climate emission reductions.
This is a stand-alone trait and represents the difference in methane output of the ewes bred from the animal.
The organisation has said this value doesn’t capture differences due to other aspects such as weight and fertility. The higher the value, the more methane the animal will produce.
Sheep Ireland added this trait will be expanded on in 2024 and stars will be available. It is not included in the replacement or terminal Index.