A Merino sheep research project in South Australia is seeking assistance from NSW producers to help identify seriously ugly sheep and their relationship to fibre quality.

NSW DPI Trangie-based livestock officer, Edward Joshua, said the project organisers were asking Merino sheep breeders to look for really ugly types of sheep amongst the cull lines from flocks, when marking or classing sheep.

“We’re looking for the ones with a body that even their mothers have trouble loving,” Mr Joshua said.

He said the researchers involved believed the more unsual looking Merino lambs could hold the key to securing Australia’s $2.8 billion wool industry and to challenging the dominance of synthetic fibres in world markets.

NSW DPI is also involved in the project, asking NSW Merino breeders to find the ugliest sheep so the South Australian Research and Development Institute (SARDI) can test them.

Scientists from SARDI and the University of Adelaide are looking for sheep with unusual wool that provide the keys to unlocking the genetic library pointing to superior wool quality.

Mr Joshua said the unusual qualities researchers were seeking included:

• Fibres which are straight, wavy or curly, but not crimped
• Fibres which emerge from the skin thin and break off near the surface
• Shoulder, rump or flank skin without any or many fibres
• Greatly expanded bare areas at the normal places on the body
• Other abnormal skin, fibre or fleece attributes.

“We need the ugly sheep with wool faults that may identify genes that have a significant impact on wool quality,” Mr Joshua said.

Adelaide University’s Professor Phil Hynd says these lambs are usually culled because they may have uneven wool, strange fibres, clumps of wool that fall out, bare patches, no wool, unusual crimp, extralustrous wool, or even highly wrinkled skin.

“These lambs, typically seen as worthless, are in fact highly valuable to the industry, because one of the most efficient ways to identify the genes that impact on certain wool traits is to study animals that have rare or extreme features,” Professor Hynd said.

“When something goes really wrong with the genes, it is the most powerful indicator about where to look to identify the genes that could – paradoxically – make things go really right.

“It’s as though in a mirage of thousands of genes, we can suddenly see a flag pointing to those that are critical to wool follicle formation and fibre synthesis.

“Ultimately, through the latest DNA-based technology, it’s the ugly sheep that will help us make quantum leaps, to advance the qualities of Australian Merino wool to make it more stretchy, less scratchy, shinier and easier to spin, and to compete better against synthetic fibres.”

Professor Hynd said it was estimated that among the national Merino flock, about 100 such lambs would be born this autumn exhibiting naturally occurring random mutations that cause unusual fleeces.

“The wool industry is making incremental improvements to wool quality – about one per cent a year,” he said.

“Studying unusual sheep could lead to dramatic improvements in genetic gain and secure a healthy future for the Australian wool industry.”

Scientists are inviting producers to offer this season’s “eligible” sheep as part of the Sheep Genomics Program, a joint Australian Wool Innovation Limited and Meat and Livestock Australia initiative.

“Send a wool sample, a digital photo, or a printed photo. Transport can be arranged,” Mr Joshua said.

Contact Darryl Smith, SARDI Livestock Systems, Roseworthy SA, (08) 8303 7635, smith.darryl@saugov.sa.gov.au