Merino Superior Sires No 31 now available
Having commenced providing services to ram breeders and commercial woolgrowers alike in 1989, Merino Sire Evaluation continues to grow in Australia. Edition 31 of the annual Merino Superior Sires publication demonstrates the volume, quality and diversity of the sires that are entered.
The Australian Merino Sire Evaluation Association (AMSEA) is pleased to release Merino Superior Sires, Edition 31 – the annual publication that benchmarks Merino genetics across Australia.
This edition showcases Australian Sheep Breeding Values (ASBVs) for a wide range of measured and visually classed traits, collected through AMSEA’s rigorous and independent sire evaluation program at industry-managed sites. Alongside the ASBVs, an independent Classer’s Grade is also reported, giving breeders valuable insights into conformation and wool quality traits that are not expressed through an ASBV.
One of the key features 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.
This year's report includes data from 306 sires evaluated across nine sites between 2020 and 2024. With the Merino Lifetime Productivity (MLP) Project data collection phase now complete, sires entered between 2015 and 2018 have been removed. The focus is on the latest sires enabling breeders to make relevant and meaningful comparisons.
A major highlight of MSS Edition 31 is the progress toward developing new flystrike resistance breeding values for both breech and body strike. These ASBVs are expected to be available within the next 12 months, marking an important step in providing breeders with practical tools to tackle one of the industry's toughest challenges while improving animal welfare outcomes.
The report also expands its coverage of sustainability and welfare related traits, including methane breeding values – an increasingly important focus in both domestic and international markets.
Together, sire evaluation and 100% progeny genotyping will continue to deliver the practical tools breeders need to drive genetic improvement, improve animal welfare and meet evolving market demands.
Once again this year, 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 31. The Top 20 highly used sires has once again been published, along with an All Time Top 50 for each of the four new MERINOSELECT indexes which includes rams from the past 30 years of sire evaluation trials.
Merino Superior Sires No 31 is available for download at https://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
