Geneticists developing genomics for Merinos with limited grassroots support

摘要

Genomics is being portrayed in research circles as having an important contribution to make to improved productivity in Merino sheep, for both wool and meat characteristics. At the Applied Genomics Conference in Melbourne earlier this year Meat and Livestock Australia's Alex Ball made the point that in the sheep industry Merinos are the breed most likely to gain from the new technology. The proposition is puzzling because most Merino seedstock breeders as well as commercial farmers have not adopted breeding values as an aid to selection. They continue to view these estimates based on a ram and its progenies measured performance with a great deal of scepticism. Visual appearance and individual performance dominate decision making. In contrast, British breed cattle producers both dairy and beef, have almost universally adopted bull and cow breeding values with most using them for selection and purchasing decisions.