Brief Summary of Minutes of Annual Meeting

Accomplishments
Cornell University
Noteworthy progress has been made toward identifying genes associated with out of season lambing. The ovine 606,006 SNP chip was used to genotype 28 seasonal ewes and 26 aseasonal ewes, with 4 SNPs found to be significantly related to out of season lambing. Almost 3 of 9 lactations planned in our project on the effect of potentially fermentable fiber on milk production of Dorset and Finnsheep × Dorset ewes have been completed.

Dale Bumper Small Farms Research Center, USDA, ARS, Booneville, AR
Improved breeding strategies to aid organic small ruminant production. The greatest barrier to organic small ruminant (such as sheep and goats) production in the U.S. is reduced weight gains and death due to gastrointestinal parasites. Research demonstrates that genetic selection for parasite resistance in sheep with heritability as high as 0.5 can eliminate the need for most deworming and reduce mortality and morbidity, especially with good nutrition and pasture management. As lead for a multi-institutional, multi-disciplinary team funded by NIFA's Organic Agriculture Research and Extension Initiative, ARS scientists from Booneville, AR, along with colleagues from Louisiana State University, Virginia Tech, Fort Valley State University, and the University of Arkansas, and cooperation from several farmers, have developed selection tools to aid in the control of gastrointestinal nematodes for organic and conventional production of small ruminants After selecting replacement stock from parasite-resistant parents (determined by fecal egg counts around and after the time of lambing), fewer animals within the flocks required deworming. The research has resulted in farmer-friendly publications available through the National Center for Appropriate Technology and the website of the American Consortium for Small Ruminant Parasite Control, and improved accuracies of Estimated Breeding Values for parasite resistance reported by the National Sheep Improvement Program, resulting in increased value of breeding stock and increased use by commercial farms.

University of Idaho
Statement: The University of Idaho is engaging young students who have expressed an interest in learning about the sheep industry, including a new UI Sheep club. The University recently acquired a registered Suffolk flock (approximately 100 ewes), to add to the Suffolk, Targhee and Polypay flocks already on campus. The primary focus of the Suffolk flock is to “develop strategies to improve and predict efficiency of lean growth, carcass quality, and meat palatability.” While this project has really just began, all sheep have been entered in National Sheep Improvement Program and have been genotyped with the 50K SNP chip. As we continue to collect and add carcass trait information, primarily from the UI Meats laboratory, for the animals from this flock, we will be able to properly adjust our genetic selection indices.
The production of viable gametes is an integral part of reproduction and therefore a critical aspect for the sustainability of the sheep industry. Homologous recombination during meiosis is an important process during gametogenesis that contributes to genetic variation and ensures proper chromosome segregation. Our data suggests that global recombination rates are 10% higher in Targhee than in Suffolk rams. Despite having a similar number of chromosome arms and genome size, the number of recombination events in sheep spermatocytes is approximately 20% higher than in cattle. This research provides important information regarding recombination rates in sheep spermatocytes and has a direct impact on genetic breed predictions. Understanding the process of recombination will lead to enhanced genetic predictions that will promote the sustainability of the sheep industry.

Michigan State University
Outreach accomplishments involved the presentation of programs with proceedings/manuals on birth management, parasite management, grazing management and health management for small ruminants production under a wide scale of farm size and operator experience. Applied research efforts included projects to develop a production simulation model for different modes of small ruminant production. In addition, a thorough characterization of maternal circulating levels placental glycoproteins and progesterone was completed indicating the the pregnancy specific glycoprotein, PAG1, may be a marker of placental function throughout gestation in sheep and also a good predictor of fetal number. Courses were offered as a clinical clerkship to DVM students on small ruminant production medicine and to undergraduate students on sheep production. Finally, an extensive renovation of the MSU sheep teaching and research center was completed including a 5800 ft2 temperature controlled lambing unit and 7900 ft2 multi-use housing area). These renovations and new additions have allowed a doubling of flock size (380 ewes), establishment of a total mixed ration feeding system and an insulated lambing unit to facilitate research, teaching and outreach using sheep to benefit both sheep production and biomedical research.

North Dakota State University
Lambs were selected, production measures recorded, and lambs were harvested at the NDSU Meats Laboratory. Consumer taste panel work has been scheduled to evaluate lamb palatability. Further data collection and analysis will be completed.

South Dakota State University

Two graduate students Jessica Reiners and Ann Kolthoff have successfully completed MS degree requirements in the discipline of sheep production- Major (co) – advisor Dr. Jeff Held, SDSU Professor. Reiner’s thesis title “Lysine Bioavailability of Two Lipid Coated Lysine Products after Exposure to Silages with Different Acidities”. The Kolthoff thesis title, “Effect of Pre-Marketing Management Practices on Shrink Loss in Lambs”. Peer reviewed journal articles have been submitted for review from the Reiner’s thesis and preparation of manuscripts from the work of Kolthoff will be completed in 2017. Undergraduate sheep research projects under supervision of Dr. Held have been completed by Hattie Cramer and Lexi Slack both SDSU Animal Science students. Cramer conducted a study entitled “Evaluation of Commercially prepared Lamb Milk Replacers for Artificially Reared Lambs”. A research poster was presented at the 2017 SDSU Undergraduate Student Poster Session. For Slack the project title “Copper Levels in Common Feed Ingredients for Sheep”. A peer reviewed manuscript from this project has been published with the authors J.E. Held and L. Slack- at iGrow.org February 2017.

Referred peer reviewed manuscript was published titled “Reduce Lamb Loss”, author Dr. Held. This publication is part of the 12 chapter “Increasing Your Lamb Crop” series on productivity best practices sponsored by the American Sheep Industry Association “Let’s Grow” committee. Available at the United States Lamb Resource Center, www.LambResourceCenter.com.
This publication series compliments the focus of the NCERA-214 coordinating committee focus on “Increased Efficiency of Sheep Production”.
Funding requests for two collaborative sheep educational programming projects with South Dakota State University (Dr. Held and Mr. Ollila) and North Dakota State University (Dr. Travis Hoffman) sheep extension and research staff has been submitted to the ASI “Let’s Grow” committee. Those project titles are “Northern Plains Lamb Value Discovery Program” and “Telling the Sheep Story”.
SDSU sheep extension faculty, Dr. Jeff Held and Mr. Dave Ollila co-hosted the educational programming for the 79th Annual South Dakota Sheep Growers Annual Convention held September 30 and October 1st 2016 in Rapid City, SD. The 2-d educational program included facilities tours, workshops, lamb and wool promotion and featured presentations by industry experts, university personnel plus ASI and ALB representatives. There were three primary convention segments with attendance ranging from 150 to 200 people. A key target audience to attend this convention was new and beginner producers.

Texas A&M AgriLife Research
Results from multiple research trials have further demonstrated the nutritional and feeding value of ground woody products for use in ruminant livestock diets. These trials have also advanced our efforts to get ground juniper approved as a commercial feed ingredient. Our efforts have resulted in multiple publications and presentations related not only to using ground woody products, but evaluating the beneficial effects of plant secondary compounds on livestock production.
Other accomplishments (previous year):
* Multiple websites and social media sites have been constructed
* Two graduate and two undergraduate students were trained during these projects.
* Developed a conference that was attended by approximately 100 people
* Received $120,000 from the US Forest Service
* Received an in-kind donation of dried distillers grains worth approximately $6,000
* Collaborated with MT State Univ. and received funding ($39,400) from NSIIC
A study has been implemented to estimate performance differences between Dorper and Rambouillet ewes. Estimates of breed differences for fertility, number of lambs born, lamb birth weight, lamb weaning weight, and lamb carcass traits were documented from records on ewes from 2 to 9 years of age. The main objective of this study is to evaluate lifetime lamb production from Dorper and Rambouillet ewes.

Utah State University
1-Antioxidants, Diet Selection and the Control of Internal Parasites in Sheep
Utah State University explored the impact of antioxidants on reductions of Haemonchus contortus burdens in sheep. The antioxidant (at 0.3% in the ration) did not seem to reduce fecal egg counts –an indirect estimate of parasitic burdens- or indicators of anemia in sheep. Researchers are looking at haptoglobin and immunoglobulins, as well as antioxidant activity in muscle to explore further potential physiological benefits of the antioxidant.
Parasitized animals offered choices between feeds with or without antioxidant (CHP-1 and CHP-2) showed greater values of food conversion efficiency than parasitized animals fed the single diets AOX or Control. In addition, animals with parasitic burdens modified their diet selection by increasing their preference for the antioxidant in contrast to their non-parasitized counterparts. Moreover, the increased selection of antioxidant feed by parasitized animals paid off as greater feed efficiencies were observed in animals offered a choice than in parasitized lambs offered single rations. It is possible that the “positive stress” induced by the challenge of building a diet in animals offered choices may explain this pattern. Scientists are now measuring hormones that indicate chronic stress (haptoglobin) to test this hypothesis. Alternatively, it is likely the levels of antioxidant in the AOX diet was high, and in these conditions it has been shown that feed efficiencies decline as a consequence of a reduction in the efficiency of nutrient absorption in the gastrointestinal tract. Thus, animals that “diluted” the antioxidant in the choice treatments reduced the final concentration of the antioxidant, enhancing its effectiveness at improving animal performance.
2- Exploring the impact of nutritional state and secondary compounds on aspen (Populus tremuloides) intake by sheep
Overbrowsing by ungulates is a major cause of poor aspen stand regeneration in some areas of North America. Utah State University has determined the influence of the nutritional state on aspen use by sheep. Results suggest that sheep grazing an understory with high protein to energy ratios are more prone to consume greater amounts of aspen than those animals grazing understories of greater energy and lower protein content.

Virginia State University
The final mating was completed in a 4 year trial that evaluated the use of terminal sire mating with Dorset rams in land race hair sheep ewes under an accelerated mating system. Lambing performance ewes was recorded, and pre-weaning growth and survival of purebred and terminal sire lambs was compared. Purebred and crossbred lambs were harvested and carcass characteristics and composition were determined after grazing stockpiled pasture in late fall with or without supplementation.

West Virginia University:
Research and outreach activities focused on increasing productivity and profitability of sheep operations. Results demonstrate that selection and nutritional management of ewe lambs can advance the age at first lambing and increase overall reproductive performance. Studies on breeding ewes out-of-season demonstrated that lambing rate can be increased by 25-30% through improved nutrition and gonadotropin stimulation.