Thierry Pabiou of Sheep Ireland discussed the topic of “Are we ready for genomic selection?” at the ICBF & Sheep Ireland Genetics Conference which took place Friday 17th of January 2020 in the Heritage Hotel, Killenard, Co. Laois.
To view Theirry’s presentation click here.
Single step genomic evaluation is the process of using a genomic pedigree (pedigree of both genotyped and non-genotyped animals) in place of the conventional genetic pedigree across the 4 evaluation modules (growth, lambing, health, & litter size). More than 34,000 genotypes were used in the pilot genomic evaluation ran in January 2020. The main results can be summarised as follow:
- The breeding values of non-genotyped animals will also be impacted by genomic selection
- Only genotyped animals will get the benefit of genomic selection on the accuracy of breeding values
- The change in breeding values – and therefore star movements – will be minimum. The correlation between genetic and genomic Terminal (Replacement) index is 0.93 for ram lambs born in 2019 and 0.94 for proven rams.
- The average gain for genotyped animals in Terminal (or Replacement) accuracy for genotyped ram lambs born in 2019 is +15%
The genomic evaluation process is in place for Sheep Ireland.