Merino Superior Sires No 29 now available
Results from 12 Merino Sire Evaluation sites operating around Australia, detailing the measured and visual performance of more than 430 of Australia’s leading Merino sires, are available in the latest version of Merino Superior Sires.
Published annually by the Australian Merino Sire Evaluation Association (AMSEA), the current Merino Superior Sires is the 29th edition of this sought-after industry resource.
Merino Superior Sires publishes Australian Sheep Breeding Values (ASBVs) for a wide range of both measured and visually classed traits that are collected as part of the rigorous and independent assessment program that AMSEA oversees through its network of industry managed sites. In addition, an independent Classer’s Grade is also reported giving users an insight into the conformation and wool quality traits that are not expressed through an ASBV.
A key feature of Merino Sire Evaluation is that sites carry out assessments at the Hogget or Adult stage. This is significantly later compared to many on farm assessments and adds accuracy and robustness to the results published.
The current edition of Merino Superior Sires includes ASBVs and Classer’s Grade for all sires entered in the Merino Lifetime Productivity (MLP) project. These results have been informed by nearly two million data points from the 5,700 ewes collected in the MLP project so far. With the project having concluded at three of the five sites, and less than 12 months remaining at the final two sites, the results for these sires are of very high accuracy and demonstrate the genetics of some of Australia’s leading sires at the commencement of the project.
A key feature of Merino Superior Sires 29 is the Top 50 reports. These list the top 50 rams entered in Merino Sire Evaluation ranked for each of the current MERINOSELECT Indexes. In this year’s Top 50 reports, close to half of the sires listed are young sires that are being published in Merino Superior Sires for the first time.
A number of additional reports have also been released exclusively via the Merino Superior Sires website in conjunction with the online and hardcopy Merino Superior Sires 29. The Top 20 highly used sires has once again been published, along with a Top 50 for each of the five new MERINOSELECT Research Indexes. With the new Indexes currently in a consultation phase, the Top 50 reports are a great way for breeders to compare the old indexes to the new ones.
Merino Superior Sires No 29 is available for download at www.merinosuperiorsires.com.au or in hard copy by contacting merinosuperiorsires@bcsagribusiness.com.au
More information: Ben Swain, AMSEA Executive Officer, 0427 100 542, ben.swain@bcsagribusiness.com.au
This article appeared in the December 2023 edition of AWI’s Beyond the Bale magazine. Reproduction of the article is encouraged.
