COLLEGE STATION, Texas — In an effort meet a growing market, the Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service will assist with the 2021 Spring Edition Texas Performance Sale for sheep and goats that will take place online March 17. This sale is an addition to the one held in August in conjunction with the Texas Sheep and Goat Expo.
The online sale is hosted by Integrity Livestock Auctions, with bidding taking place on their website. Participants will need to register to bid in advance and can preview the lots.
The sale features hair sheep, wool sheep and meat goats consigned by breeders who have committed to using technology resulting in estimated breeding values, EBVs, or similar testing. EBVs are science-based, industry-tested measurements of heritable traits that can be tracked and measured. EBVs are proven to improve animal productivity and enhance breeding decisions, and have been extensively utilized in other livestock industries, most notably cattle.
The sheep available in the Texas Performance Sale have EBVs for a variety of production traits including fecal egg count, a measurement of resistance to internal parasites, number of lambs born, weaning weight and a host of other traits. Producers can use this information to purchase breeding animals that are an optimal fit for their style of production.
Addition of spring sale
“We traditionally hold the Texas Performance Sale in August in conjunction with the Texas Sheep and Goat Expo, but demand for sheep and goats with estimated breeding values, especially by producers who wish to lamb or kid in the fall to capture higher market prices, has outgrown what we can supply in just the August sale alone,” said Jake Thorne, AgriLife Extension sheep and goat associate, San Angelo.
“We have worked with the sale committee that decided to add a second sale here in March to help meet the demand for breeding livestock with EBVs and to help supply production-oriented animals just in time for a spring breeding cycle. We are grateful the industry is moving in a direction towards utilizing this technology.”
What goes into EBVs
The animal measurements that go into determining the EBVs include weights at various time points, lambing records and parasite load. For fine wool breeds, specific data such as wool quality and quantity metrics are included. EBVs are then calculated for each animal by determining how it compares for a specific trait in relation to the other lambs that season.
The goal of this technology is to exclude the non-genetic factors that may cause an animal to perform, a phenotype, a certain way and estimate only the portion that is due to genetics. When purchasing a breeding animal, you are purchasing its ability to pass on traits to its offspring, Thorne said. EBVs provide a measurement of the genetic value of livestock, especially for traits that we cannot readily see, such as parasite resistance and reproductive capacity.
“We feel strongly that EBVs and related technology will revolutionize how sheep and goats are selected and result in animals better suited to produce and thrive in the Texas,” he said.
–Susan Himes
Texas A&M AgriLife Extension
For more articles out of Texas, click here.