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A bio-economic approach to estimating economic values for UK hill sheep

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 November 2017

J. Conington
Affiliation:
SAC, West Mains Road, Edinburgh, EH9 3UG, UK
S. Bishop
Affiliation:
Roslin Institute (Edinburgh), Roslin, Midlothian EH25 9PS, UK
A. Waterhouse
Affiliation:
SAC, West Mains Road, Edinburgh, EH9 3UG, UK
G. Simm
Affiliation:
SAC, West Mains Road, Edinburgh, EH9 3UG, UK
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Extract

Profitability of sheep production systems depends on several different animal characteristics rather than a single trait. Economic selection indexes combine information from more than one trait into an overall score, to maximise genetic gain. Economic values (EVs) are required for each trait in the breeding goal so that selection emphasis is proportional to the economic importance of each trait. Defining clear breeding goals is more complex for hill breeds than for other sectors of the sheep industry because they provide breeding females in addition to lambs for slaughter. The aims of this paper are to i) describe how EVs for breeding goal traits suitable for UK hill sheep were derived for a combination of carcass, maternal and ‘sustainability’ traits using a bio-economic model, and ii) show how these EVs vary between different production systems as a result of the differences in the physical constraints of farm size, pasture availability and the biological limits of sheep in extensive rearing environments.

Type
Theatre Presentations
Copyright
Copyright © The British Society of Animal Science 2000

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References

Amer, P.R., Emmans, G.C. and Simm, G. 1997. Economic values for carcass traits in UK commercial beef cattle. Livestock Production Science 51: 267281.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
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