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Summary of full report
September 2005
RIRDC Publication No 05/141 RIRDC Project No DAV-191A
Executive Summary
In livestock enterprises,
increasing costs of production and decreasing value of product in real
terms mean that producers must find ways to either make the production
system more efficient or to increase the value of the product through improvements
in quality. Genetic gain in economically important traits can facilitate
both improvements in efficiency of production and product quality. In the
Angora goat, genetically reducing fibre diameter and medullation and increasing
staple length, fleece weight and reproductive rate results in both gains
in efficiency of production and product value.
In order to make genetic gain in the mohair industry there is a requirement to determine superior Angora sires within the population and increase their use. Establishing which sires are superior requires an understanding of their performance in relation to others. The most accurate way to test a sire’s genetic worth is to generate progeny from the animal and compare them with progeny from other animals. This is known as central test sire evaluation. Other livestock industries such as the Merino sheep industry have made extensive use of central test sire evaluation in recent times to identify the individual sires within industry that have a potential to make significant genetic improvement to the national flock. However, prior to this project central sire evaluation had never been completed in fibre goats in Australia.
A central progeny test site was established in 2002 to determine the genetic variation that existed between eleven prominent sires in use in the mohair industry and to demonstrate the usefulness of modern genetic techniques in identifying elite individuals. The project was designed to evaluate the progeny of the selected sires at their first three shearings. Through the use of genetic linkage the project was able to use information from an additional four sires under evaluation at a separate site.
The difference between the highest mohair value and lowest mohair value from each sire’s progeny groups was $5.70, $7.80 and $5.10 per progeny at the first, second and third shearings respectively, highlighting the large difference in profitability that exists between sires in use in the Australian mohair industry. When market and fleece test data were used together to estimate fleece value the difference between sires progeny was around $9.00 per progeny at the third shearing.
Widespread industry use of
the most profitable sires identified in this project will result in an
increase in profitability of Australian mohair production enterprises.
The evaluation of further sires, with links to the current data would substantially
enhance the value of this information, and result in more efficient identification
and use of superior sires in the industry.
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