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About
the
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breeding system
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Parkdale
Workshop 2008.
Robert Mudford is a certified SRS®
sheep classer and is available to
assist in developing mules-free
merino flocks.
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SRS®
is a unique breeding system for developing new genetic
types of sheep, goats and alpacas with fleeces of
unparalleled quality. It was invented and implemented
by Dr. Jim Watts (M V Sc , Ph D) a specialist in
fleece and skin biology and animal breeding.
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This
new breeding technology allows meat and milk breeds of
sheep and goats, that previously produced no wool, or
inferior wool, to be transformed into valuable
wool-producing animals without any loss of meat or
milk production.
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Using
the SRS® breeding system, remarkable genetic
improvements have been achieved in the quantity and
quality of fleeces produced by Merino sheep, Angora
goats and alpacas; animals that normally grow long and
fine fleeces. In many flocks and herds, the wool or
mohair is almost twice as long, is finer and softer,
and there is a lot more of it.
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The
Merino sheep no longer have to be
mulesed, are easy to
shear and rear more
lambs.
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Genetic
Solution To Mulesing |
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(Australian
Farm Journal Article - August
2009) |
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Dear
Sir,
Marks
and Spencer , the large UK
retailer, recently announced
that it would only source
non-mulesed wool for its
menswear business by the end
of 2010. Laurence Modiano (AWI
Director and wool processor)
in an open Letter to Marks and
Spencer of 9 July 2009 states
correctly that “the only
real alternative (to mulesing)
is to breed plain-breeched
sheep”. But he is wrong when
he says that “unless St
George (the patron saint of
shepherds) performs a miracle
there will be no alternative
to mulesing by 2011”.
The genetic solution to
mulesing is already in place
and has been since 2001. In
2003 I wrote to AWI to inform
them of this fact but received
no reply. There are currently
40 SRS® Merino ram breeders
in Australia (and several
others) who do not mules their
sheep and breed at least
10,000 plain-breeched Merino
rams each year for use in
other Merino flocks. With
these Merino rams and proper
guidance, it takes less than 5
years to change a wrinkly
Merino flock to a wrinkle free
and mules free one.
There are several thousand
registered Merino studs in
Australia. Why then are only
such a small number of studs,
albeit genetically influential
ones, producing rams which
provide the genetic solution
to mulesing ? Why are research
groups investigating whether
it is possible to breed Merino
sheep that do not need to be
mulesed, when it has already
been accomplished ?
Merino producers often say
plain bodied Merino sheep lack
density and produce less wool.
Not true if you breed a plain
bodied Merino sheep with high
levels of wool fibre density
and length. Between 1988-1992,
I measured the wool fibre
densities of Merino sires from
52 studs throughout Australia,
These sires were used to breed
rams which were then used in
commercial flocks. The wrinkly
sires, which represent then
and now the vast majority of
rams used in Australia had a
mean density of 55 fibres per
square millimetre of skin. The
plain bodied SRS® sires had
much higher densities,
averaging 85 fibres per square
millimetre of skin.
Many Merino ram breeders now
claim that they are breeding
wrinkle free rams but more
time is needed to accomplish
the task. It has been
suggested by some, and also by
Mr Modiano in his letter, that
another 10 to 15 years is
required. The reality is that
it takes less than 5 years
(done properly) and plenty of
time has been available. The
process should have begun in
the 1930s when the proof of
concept of plain-breeched
Merino sheep not requiring
mulesing was first
established, or at the very
latest in 2004, when the 2010
cessation of mulesing was
announced.
Mulesing sheep as a means of
preventing breech strike is,
and always has been, an excuse
for breeding Merino sheep
which have wrinkly or
“ribby” skins. Such sheep
are also susceptible to body
strike which can ravage these
flocks in wet summers. Sheep
that need mulesing to prevent
breech strike are also the
sheep that need chemical
fleece treatments to prevent
body strike. Conversely,
plain-bodied sheep with high
fibre density and length that
do not require mulesing, are
naturally resistant to fleece
rot and body strike.
We held three highly
successful workshops with
Landmark in New South Wales
and South Australia in 2008 to
demonstrate to Merino
producers how simple and quick
the genetic transition to a
mules free flock is. Each
workshop was attended by more
than 100 Merino producers.
This is an important means of
stimulating industry change.
For more information, I would
encourage people to read the
series of three articles I
wrote in the May, July and
October 2008 issues of
Australian Farm Journal, or
visit our website, www.srswool.com.
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Jim
Watts
The SRS Company Pty Ltd
PO Box 2604
BOWRAL NSW 2576
tel: 02 48 622050
email:
srs@hinet.net.au |
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