Sheep Progeny Test: call for ram nominations

Monday 21st October 2024

B+LNZ Genetics invites breeders to nominate rams for the 2025 mating of the Sheep Central Progeny Test (CPT). The CPT is open to both maternal and terminal sires and all mating is via Artificial Insemination.

The CPT has two Hub sites – the South Island site at AgResearch's Invermay farm in Dunedin and a North Island site at Glenside, Masterton. Successful rams are used at both sites so the performance of their progeny can be evaluated across two environments.

Why submit a ram to the Central Progeny Test?

The purpose of the CPT is to connect flocks across breeds - which wouldn’t happen naturally in industry - to underpin New Zealand's large scale across-flock genetic evaluation, known as the NZGE.

The benchmarking carried out in the CPT ensures rams’ breeding values and therefore future performance, are as accurate as possible.
Including a ram from your flock “connects” you to the NZGE and validates the performance of your flock against other New Zealand flocks. This connection allows you to be benchmarked in nProve.

At this year’s Sheep Breeder Forum, Neville Jopson and Sharon McIntyre hosted Connectedness workshop – which included some discussion on strategies to get maximum benefits from the CPT programme.

We recommend watching the video on our YouTube page.

For more details on assessing your genetic connections, refer to the document 'Tools to review your connectedness,' outlining different methods for understanding these connections.

Selection criteria

To support the CPT’s purpose of maximising connectedness across the national flock, there will be a number of spots available to groups who want to connect themselves to the NZGE – with priority given to groups over individual flocks.

Preference will be given to:

NZGE recorded flocks
flock groups who have used a sire widely;
rams submitted by groups to connect multiple flocks;
flocks recording core NZMW or NZTW traits;
- flocks recording additional traits (e.g. WormFEC, Dag, BCS etc) potentially provide more connections.
Older rams used widely in a group (if a young ram is nominated, preference is given to groups where a clear plan can be demonstrated to establish connections across the group).
Where possible, isolated or new breeds will be considered.
Flocks that are recording the same traits as the CPT, to enable the most value from the connections generated (e.g. retaining females

Upon successful admission into the CPT, a ram submission form needs to be completed.

Well-connected flocks: We appreciate the effort it takes for groups to maintain strong connectedness. However, it’s important to note that sometimes even well-connected flocks may not be selected during the nomination process. This decision is based on the need to balance the number of submissions we receive with the limited spots available, as well as ensuring breed diversity across the industry.

If a group is well connected and will remain so in the foreseeable future, we may defer their selection until the next mating. An unsuccessful nomination is not a reflection of poor performance —it’s simply part of our process for maximising connectedness and across the national flock and ensuring the CPT delivers the greatest benefit to the industry.

Costs

There is no cost if your ram is accepted through the Expression of Interest (EOI) process because of its industry-good significance. However, it is expected that successful flocks use the selected sire in their own/other flocks in the same year or nominate a sire that has been widely-used.

Flocks and groups are welcome to submit a ram on a “pay for entry” basis. The cost is $5000 for a terminal ram and $15,000 for a maternal ram – the direct cost of testing a ram in the CPT. All successful sires are required to provide semen for AI only.

All successful flocks must meet the costs of animal health testing and semen collection. 

How to submit rams

Step One: Click the link below to open the form
Step Two: Fill out ram nomination details
Step Three: Click Submit
Step Four: Check your inbox for a follow-up confirmation email.

Nomination forms must be received by Friday 22 November 2024.
Nomination outcomes will be communicated during the week commencing 16 December 2024 and successful nominators provided with a Ram Supply Agreement for signing.

For more information, email info@blnzgenetics.com