Meat and Livestock Australia said the values were a major breakthrough that would assist producers boost lamb survival rates and the amount of lamb weaned per hectare, improving profits for sheep enterprises.

The new Australian Sheep Breeding Values are known as Lambing Ease Direct, Lambing Ease Daughter and Gestation Length.

They became available to terminal, maternal and Merino breeders through Lambplan and Merino Select on November 2.

The Lambing Ease Direct values identify sires whose lambs would be less likely to require external assistance during birth, which will benefit prime lamb enterprises where progeny are turned off for processing.

The Lambing Ease Daughters values indicate how well a sire’s daughters will handle lambing, and a sire with a high value for this trait will produce daughters that are less likely to require lambing assistance – important for producers breeding replacement ewes.

The Gestation Length ASBV identifies sires whose progeny will lamb down within optimal gestation length, from AI conception to the date of birth, to reduce birth weight and increase lambing ease.

MLA sheep genetics manager Sam Gill said these new breeding values, coupled with selection for moderate birth weight, would give sheep breeders and commercial producers another tool to maximise lamb survival.

“There is a 33 per cent difference in lambing ease between the best and worst terminal sires used in 2008, which highlights how important genetics can be in reducing the amount of help required during lambing,” he said.

“They will also help to reduce ewe losses, which are a significant long term profit driver of lamb production.

“The breeding values were created using more than 44,500 records on ease of lambing collected by Lambplan members, the Sheep CRC and other research programs, and analysed through the University of New England’s Animal Genetics and Breeding Unit, using industry funds from MLA.”

More information about the new breeding values is available from Sheep Genetics on (02) 6773 2948 or email info@sheepgenetics.org.au