Buying rams to do the job

Commercial sheep breeders have been invited to attend free hands-on RamSelect workshops to refine their ram selection skills at Gilgandra on Wednesday August 7 and Armatree on Friday August 10.

The Cooperative Research Centre for Sheep Industry Innovation, Department of Primary Industries (DPI) and local service providers are running the workshops to give producers practical skills and more confidence in finding the right ram for their flock.

DPI sheep breeding specialist, Allan Casey, said producers needed to ensure they get value from sires for their wool, meat and dual-purpose enterprises.

"Producers need to get it right - ram buyers have a very challenging job as their decisions influence the genetic gain and profitability of the flock," Mr Casey said.

"The one-day RamSelect workshop aims to make those decisions a lot easier and help ensure producers are selecting the best rams for their flock breeding objective.

"It gives producers the know-how to set a price for the standard of ram they want at a sale.

"We are not suggesting producers select a particular type of ram - an important part of the workshop helps producers define their flock objective and provides the skills they need to select rams which meet that objective."

Mr Casey said breeders needed to be confident in using the measured performance information and combine that with their visual assessment of the rams.

"New formats for performance information, Australian Sheep Breeding Values (ASBVs) which capture the best estimate of how a ram’s progeny will perform for a particular trait and updated indexes are being made available by ram breeders," he said.

"RamSelect gives producers the opportunity to gain a better understanding of how to use performance indexes in their selection process."

Practical activities dominate the workshops to help breeders develop the skills needed to select rams which deliver the flock improvement they are targeting.

Merino rams will be used during the Gilgandra workshop at ‘Sunnyside’, with Border Leicester rams at Armatree’s ‘New Armatree’ - both workshops will suit all enterprises, including terminal sire breeds.

Producers who would like to attend either RamSelect workshop should contact ram.select@dpi.nsw.gov.au or NSW DPI Advanced Breeding Services project officer, Jac Staines (02) 6391 3901. More information is available from www.sheepconnectnsw.com.au

Photographs are available bernadette.york@dpi.nsw.gov.au

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