Application of new technologies in sheep breeding

Abstract

Genetically improved sheep make an important contribution to farmer profitability. New Zealand sheep breeders have a good track record in applying cost effective technologies to assist with the genetic improvement of their stock, with current annual rates of genetic gain in the New Zealand sheep industry likely to be between 0.1 and 0.2 genetic standard deviations. Several new technologies are discussed and their potential impact on improving genetic gain in the New Zealand sheep industry evaluated. While it might be possible to improve the rate of genetic gain to 0.5 genetic standard deviations by applying all available technologies, it is more likely that improved rates will only reach about 0.3 genetic standard deviations when cost effectiveness is taken into account. © 2007 Taylor & Francis Group, LLC.