Pāmu (Landcorp Farming Ltd), the Ministry for Primary
Industries (MPI) and Focus Genetics, a Pāmu subsidiary, with support from
AgResearch, have joined forces on the innovative ‘Sheep of the Future’
programme.
The vision includes finer wool genetics (20-25 micron) that can be farmed
beyond the arid areas that have traditionally been the home for Merino sheep,
advances in strong wool breeds to increase disease tolerance, low-input traits
to make farming less costly, continued breeding selection for animal growth and
meat quality traits, and for rumen function with lower levels of methane
emission.
Pāmu CEO Mark Leslie said: “This ground breaking seven-year initiative aims to
transform sheep-based production systems. It will lower production costs and
enhance farming businesses' viability while contributing to New Zealand's
environmental and climate obligations.”
Programme Manager Natalie Pickering from Focus Genetics said climate change is
likely to have a marked impact on farms producing wool and red meat in New
Zealand.
“Genetics provides an opportunity to select animals that are better adapted to
the changing environment through disease and heat tolerance while maintaining
productive performance and lowering emissions.”
The project, partially funded through the Sustainable Food and Fibre Futures
fund, is expected to run until 2029. The collaboration sees an injection of
$10.5 million which will enable benchmarking, breed comparisons, research on
new traits, and breeding programmes to develop fine-wool and no-wool sheep in
New Zealand.
At Pāmu farm Aratiatia near Taupō, the team is working with a fine-wool
breeding flock alongside a control Romney line. Measurements for production,
reproduction, survival, disease, and fine-wool attributes are being conducted,
along with environmental assessments. The objective is to identify fine-wool
attributes suitable for a temperate environment.
“Working with Dr Tricia Johnson, Team Leader Animal Genomics at AgResearch, we
saw an opportunity to generate a resource to enable us to investigate the
genetic variation in the no-wool and fine-wool breeds. AgResearch has done
great work on methane, residual feed intake and genomic selection for the New
Zealand sheep industry and we can leverage this work,” Natalie said.
The programme also includes a feasibility study led by AgResearch’s Dr Kathryn
McRae, who will explore immune competence in New Zealand sheep. Immune
competence is the ability of the animal to mount a healthy immune response
following exposure to bacterial or viral infection. The study aims to define a
measurement tool for immune competence that can be incorporated into breeding
programmes.
Part of the project includes producing sheep for sub-tropical areas with a
focus on meat production. The team has established a no-wool breeding
flock at Pāmu farm Kapiro in Kerikeri, along with a control Romney line, to
capture data on traits around production, reproduction, survival, disease, and
no-wool attributes. Researchers will also take emissions-related environmental
measurements, including residual feed intake and methane outputs. This
workstream will result in the development of a method for measuring heat
tolerance, which will be a crucial trait as our weather becomes more extreme.
Pāmu Head of Ventures, Jim Inglis, says putting the project together has taken
three years of planning and preparation.
“It’s great to get to this next stage and be able to develop novel traits for
the benefit of all breeders in New Zealand,” he said.
“The fine-wool flocks at Aratiatia and the no-wool breeding programmes at
Kapiro and have now undergone multiple mating cycles. We have good
relationships with breeders across New Zealand and internationally which have
facilitated their establishment.
Various breeds have been integrated into the programmes,
adding genetic diversity, and expanding the scope of the research.”
Thanks to connections and relationships with strong-wool, fine-wool breeders
and no-wool breeders, the data generated from this work will flow through New
Zealand’s national sheep evaluation programme NProve, managed by Beef + Lamb
NZ, and will be available to all farmers. Jim says the traits measured
will also be valuable for strong wool breeders looking to make strong wool
farming more profitable and sustainable, and that the team are looking forward
to holding open days to discuss the work being done, and how it will fit into
farm system changes.
“The programme demonstrates the collective effort of industry stakeholders and
researchers committed to shaping the future of sheep-based production systems
in New Zealand,” he said.