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The effect of fixed effect model and prior estimates on sire ranking in a suffolk sire referencing scheme

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  24 November 2017

G.E. Pollott
Affiliation:
Wye College-University of London, Ashford, Kent, TN25 5AH
D.R. Guy
Affiliation:
Meat and Livestock Commission, P.O.Box 44, Winterhill, Milton Keynes, MK6 1AX
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Extract

Terminal Sire breeds have a considerable impact on lamb production in Britain’s stratified cross-breeding sheep industry. MLC (1988) estimated that 69% of lambs used for meat production are sired by the Terminal Sire breeds. The predominant Terminal Sire breed is the Suffolk, comprising 46% of the ram population in Britain. The genetic improvement of meat production characters has, traditionally, been difficult in this breed due to the large number of small flocks making up the breed, the restriction on AI use and the lack of a cost/effective central testing facility. However, the formation of the Suffolk Sire-Referencing Scheme Ltd (SSRS), in 1989, has provided a vehicle for faster genetic progress in the breed.

Type
Sheep Production
Copyright
Copyright © The British Society of Animal Production 1992

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References

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