The AI programme carried out on a Beef + Lamb New Zealand’s (B+LNZ) future farm, primarily to breed low methane emitting sheep, has recorded close to 50% success.
B+LNZ general manager of farm excellence Dan Brier says the result is encouraging and shows potential for commercial sheep farmers to use the technology as a tool to speed up genetic gain.
The programme was run as part of the rapid genetic gain project on Lanercost, the organisation’s North Canterbury hill country farm.
Rapid genetic gain technologies are being used on the future farm to speed up the transition to a low methane-emitting flock.
Brier says the same technologies could be applied to any targeted traits.
Farm manager Digby Heard managed the programme using the cervical AI technique to artificially inseminate 90 ewes.
This technique is commonly used in other sheep farming countries because it is faster, less expensive than the laparoscopic method and does not require skilled technicians.
Brier says sheep studs typically use the laparoscopic method because it is associated with higher conception results.
Scanning of the AI ewes on Lanercost was 47.4%, which is particularly pleasing Brier says, given the drought conditions in autumn and that this was the first time Heard had carried out the procedure.
“What this means is that on one day, without having anyone come to the farm, we have 43 ewes in lamb to a specific ram,” Brier said.
“If we chose to, we could repeat that for a week and have 300 in-lamb to that specific ram.”
The rapid genetic gain project aims to define the effectiveness, speed of change and cost of breeding technologies and determine if sexed semen can be used successfully in sheep.
It will also compare cervical to laparoscopic AI using sexed semen.
The project considers the practicalities for commercial farmers to execute a cervical AI programme.
With sexed semen not available this year, the project went ahead with the AI programme using fresh semen collected from the Lanercost ram flock as a proof of concept and as an opportunity to learn the procedure of how to cervically inseminate ewes.
“Lanercost will be a good testing ground for artificial breeding technologies such as artificial insemination and will hopefully give commercial farmers the confidence to invest in them if they are wanting to change the genetic profile of their flock,” he said.
He says while the focus on Lanercost is transitioning to a low-methane flock, artificial breeding could be used to speed the genetic gain in any number of heritable traits.
“With consumer pressure increasing all the time, farmers need tools to be able to use high merit rams over a bigger proportion of their flock while keeping a lid on costs,” he said.
“For some farmers it might be finer wool, but for others it could be health traits like facial eczema.”
