Needs for USA Sheep Industry Extension/Education & Research

1
Needs for USA Sheep IndustryExtension/Education
Research

• Jim Morgan
• Fayetteville Arkansas
• Katahdin NSIP Breeders Group Data Coordinator
• Direct Meat Marketing
• NSIP Board President
• Contributing Editor The Shepherd magazine
• Registered Katahdin Breeder

2
Parasites

• Parasite Resistant Genetics
• Management
• Southern Consortium for Small Ruminant Parasite
  Control www.scsrpc.org
• Excellent Work Integrating Immunology,
  Population Genetics of worms, Nutrition, Ecology
  
• Providing New Tools FAMACHA, Sericea Lespedeza
  ..
• Preaching Selective Deworming

3
DrenchRite Anthelmintic Tests for 35
Farms/Ranches in the USA (2002-2004)
4
National Sheep Improvement Program

• Need a strong buy in from the Academic, Research
  Extension Communities
• Excellent Product
• New traits
• Ewe Productivity Trait (lbs lamb weaned/ewe
  lambing
• Targhee Financial EPD Index
• In development
• Accelerated Lambing EPD
• FEC-EPD
• Carcass traits Lean Growth EPD

5
NSIP II

• Need Support USDA-ARS is a great option
• Impact all 50 states
• Multiple species
• Boer Goats
• Alpacas
• Kiko Goats in 2007
• Minimal Investment
• 50,000 - 100,000
• 100,000 would allow
• Faster development of new traits
• Improved Education Prevent the train wrecks
  that have occurred in other species. BALANCED
  SELECTION

6
Easy-CareLow Energy Meat Production

• Meat production in the USA will be drastically
  different in 25 years. Energy costs and access
  to grain.
• Corn Soybean Production is shifting overseas.
• More need for information on forage-based meat
  production
• Use small ruminants to help manage landscape
  pests
• If paid for the services, then value received for
  meat can be more competitive on the global market
• Low labor costs to compete with the global market
• Ewe Productivity Trait (EPT-EPD) Identify
  genetics of ewes that are in tune with their
  environment and management ( weaned EPD as well
  as pounds)

7
Hair Sheep Leather

• Estimated 500,000 raw skins a year are imported
  from Africa into the USA (Dr Dennis Shelley
  Texas Tech Leather Institute)
• Disease risk
• Berry Amendment
• 4-20 value/lamb
• Fighter Pilot Helmets, Apparel, Upholstery
• Golf gloves
• Why Hair Sheep Leather
• Softness of wool sheep leather strength of
  goat/cattle (hair leathers)

8
Hair Sheep Leather - II

• Preliminary Studies at TTU
• 50 Rambouillet x 25 Dorper x 25 St Croix had
  too many genetic defects
• 25 Rambouillet x 37.5 Dorper x 37.5 St Croix
  was acceptable
• Dr Maurice Shelton cites earlier work
• Hair is dominant
• 90 of the secondary wool follicle is lost in the
  first cross with a tropical hair sheep

9
Hair Sheep Leather - IIII

• Future Work
• Repeated?
• Environment x genotype interactions
• Season of harvest
• Age
• Environmental temperature ND versus FL?
• Breed Does a Suffolk cross have the same number
  of defects in the leather as a Rambouillet cross?
• Result
• Commercial shedding ewes Can they have
  significant shedding wool or do they need to be
  what KHSI calls a AA coat?
• What coat type can a terminal sire on shedding
  ewes have for cross-bred lamb production
• Charles Parker has asked, Will the value for
  leather skin returned to the producer be the
  third lamb from a hair sheep ewe? (2 x 20
  40 profit)

10
Terminal Hair Sire

• Does the industry need a terminal hair sire?
• By definition, it doesnt matter if it is hair or
  wool since all lambs would be slaughtered.
• Take away some of the impetus for Dorper and
  Katahdin breeders to produce 180-250 pound ewes
• Leather may need it
• Markets for hair sheep meat e.g. Major
  marketing coops
• 150 members in SW VA 7-9000 ewes
• 50 member 13000 ewes centered in OK

11
Diseases

• Know more about financial implications of the
  following diseases. Should seedstock producers
  be providing OPP or Johnes free animals?
• Johnes
• OPP Maedni-Visna Virus
• Different strains of the virus?
• Difference in individual animal or breed
  resistances
• Management Seems like Northern flocks that lamb
  in the barn have major management financial
  impacts
• Mastitis
• Survey Why do some flocks experience 15-20
  incidence? Major effect on ewe longevity.
• Are their breed differences?
• Scrapie Need a 6 yr protocol for exporting
  genetics rather than the current 5 yr protocol
  for SFCP.
• Gene Markers for Foot Rot Resistance Do the NZ
  researchers have the whole story?

12
Lamb-Mutton Taste Nutrition

• Personal Anecdotes I can market 3-5 year old
  hair sheep mutton next to lamb at our Farmers
  Market. Leftovers are not issues.
• Susan Duckett has found that there are
  differences in fatty acid composition when hair
  sheep are compared to wool lambs.
• Current research supports minimal breed
  differences in lamb prepared under standard
  conditions.
• May need to try methods more typical of kitchens
  leftovers
• Document nutritional differences, if any in lambs
  raised on forage and grain.

13
Extension

• 25 of my time for the Katahdin breed association
  is extension.
• Budget cutting has eliminated both sheep research
  extension