Genotype your stock rams for the best chances of producing SIS eligible lambs next year!

SIS eligible rams are in high demand since the launch of the scheme giving pedigree breeders a great market for rams. As a reminder of the scheme requirement for the genotyped ram purchase task please read the following.

For Hill rams, the ram must be DNA sire verified by Sheep Ireland to be SIS eligible. We recommend genotyping all your stock rams now, as this will ensure any progeny produced by these rams next year will be sire verified, specifically in cases where rams get lost or die during the winter.

For lowland flocks, the ram be 4 or 5 Stars on the Replacement or Terminal Index and genotyped with a Genomic Evaluation. Lambs born from a stock ram sire that is not genotyped will not receive any stars! The genotype is also used to improve the accuracy of his €uroStar evaluations, which leads to less fluctuations in star ratings for the ram and his progeny.

DNA verified rams give breeders reassurance when purchasing progeny from him in the future. Once a ram is genotyped he is genotyped for life, even if he is dead any progeny he produced will be able to sire verified provided the lambs themselves are genotyped also.

How can I genotype my hill stock ram?

The details required to genotype your stock rams are:

• Full NSIS (Department tag- e.g. IE0412345 00123A)
• DOB (Year of birth is sufficient if DOB is not known)
• Breed of ram
• Your flock number and address.
• You can submit an application for a genotype tag for your hill stock ram here: Sheep Ireland: Hill flock application form

Lowland Stock ram genotyping:

To find out how to order genotyping for LambPlus flock rams and semen, click on this link: How to order genotyping online

A Rams Star rating may change after the genotype is included in the evaluation for the first time after testing. These changes occur as the extra information is added to the Rams stars based on the genomic result, which can move them up or down. On average, a Rams ranking will remain the same after testing; however, there can still be movements.

Below is a more detailed table of the probabilities of a ram lambs ranking increasing after genotyping.