Merino Bloodline Performance

Wool growers can now compare Merino bloodlines from wether trials and on-farm comparisons that have been run across Australia over the past ten years.

The Merino Bloodline Performance analysis is a joint initiative between Industry & Investment NSW (I&I NSW) and Australian Wool Innovation Limited (AWI) and shows the genetic performance of bloodlines in regard to wool production, wool quality and profitability.

The analysis takes out all environmental factors between trials and years, leaving only the genetic variation between the bloodlines.

Bloodlines are only reported where wethers have been bred from the same bloodlines for at least five years, and there are accuracy ratings depending on the number of sheep that contributed to the results.

The 2010 results show there are very significant differences in profitability between bloodlines, with a range of 19.4 per cent above the average and 12.4 percent below the average return being recorded.

These production differences therefore translate into very significant differences in bloodline profitability.

The Merino Bloodlines Package is also available free of charge from Orange Agricultural Institute Bookshop.