NSW flock ewe competitions have long been a forum for woolgrowers to benchmark their flocks against industry average and now entrants will have access to new technology to give them an even better idea of genetic performance.
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The competitions currently include subjective assessments of an entrants' flock based on certain criteria as proposed by each flock ewe competition committee, a process which has proven to be successful in lifting flock returns.
However, entrants will now be able to understand their genomic flock profile through a new partnership between the NSW Stud Merino Breeders Association NSW SMBA), XytoVet and Coopers/Allflex.
The objective measurement via DNA sampling is seen by NSW Sheep Breeders Association president, Hamish McLaren, and co-principal of the Nerstane Merinos, Walcha, as a positive move for those woolgrowers who enter the flock ewe competitions.
"It is good to see the stud breeders backing the commercial woolgrowers with this initiative," he said.
"We have the technology to make further advances with the production of wool, where micron and fleece weight are two determinants of profitability, which we can measure."
NSW SMBA has been able to broker the new deal for commercial flock ewe competition entrants which includes free sampling of all flocks entered in 2024 competitions.
Tissue samples will be taken from 20 randomly selected ewes during each entrant's display.
Mr McLaren said first placegetters of each of the 18 state competitions would receive a free flock profile report which would provide valuable feedback for commercial producers.
"Every entrant in any flock ewe competition across the state can be DNA sampled for free [for a flock profile] with the winners of each competition getting a free flock profile and support from independent expert service providers after receiving their results," he said.
"Further to that, all ewe competition entrants will be eligible for a huge discount in gaining their own flock profile from the free sampling on the day through partnerships with both Xytovet and Coopers/Allflex."
Mr McLaren said the association had endeavoured to promote technology as part of continual flock improvement in the wool industry and considered this as a step in the right direction for improving the Merino breed.
With as many as 150 flocks entered across all competitions each year, Mr McLaren said this was a valuable opportunity for the industry to gain data from commercial producers on a large scale and across a number of regions of the state.
"It isn't often the industry has been able to collect data on such a large scale," he said.
"The individual data will be made confidentially to each entrant and will not otherwise be distributed.
"Nor will the results be used during the competition as part of the judging process."
Flock profiles are a tool that will allow commercial Merino producers to benchmark how their flock compares to the rest of the industry and will increase the value for commercial breeders entering the flock ewe competitions.
"Entrants already receive visual feedback on their flocks through the ewe competition judging process and this new tool will allow them to gain further feedback on the genetic merit of their flocks," Mr McLaren said.
"It's great to be part of such a proactive movement with this new tool, which will not only assist our commercial woolgrowers in accessing the technology but also help provide support to interpret and utilise the results in their business."
Coopers/Allflex will support the project, carrying out sampling of each flock during the competition tours.
Coopers/Allflex territory sales manager Hugh Erwin, who looks after Central/Southern region of NSW, said the company was thrilled to be part of the project.
"Coopers/Allflex are excited to be continuing long-standing support for the NSW flock ewe competitions thorugh the introduction of genomic profiling," Mr Erwin said.
"We see this as an exciting opportunity for sheep breeders to be able to benchmark their genetics and push their flocks to reach their full potential.
"Each flock will be tested through the use of Allflex's tissue sampling units (TSUs) which provides a quick and easy DNA sampling method that is reliable, easy to transport, user-friendly and is the most efficient way labs can process DNA samples."
The genotyping services will be provided by XytoVet, Australian-owned and based in Western Australia.
XytoVet regional sales manager Jack Briscoe said flock profiles would offer commercial producers "another line of information".
"We recommend producers use this tool to benchmark their flocks around every four years," he said.
"It's a tool that can be used to evaluate the merit of your ram team and ewe selections over the years and ultimately map your progress at a whole flock level."
