A national sheep genetic research program is tackling head-on the dramatically different environmental conditions sheep producers encounter in different parts of Australia.

Over recent months the 5000-ewe Information Nucleus Flock, managed by Participants in the Cooperative Research Centre for Sheep Industry Innovation (Sheep CRC) at nine different sites around Australia, has encountered flooding on some properties, with dry weather and full supplementary feeding on others.

The Information Nucleus program aims to dramatically accelerate the rate of genetic improvement in Australia's sheep flocks to improve productivity and increase profits.

"The Information Nucleus is the engine room for sheep genetic research in Australia, underpinning the acceleration in genetic improvement in the national flock," Sheep CRC chief executive Professor James Rowe said.

"It is estimated that with genomic information currently available it is possible to increase the rate of genetic improvement by over seven per cent in meat breeds and by around 20% for Merinos.

"But in assessing the genetic merits of the flock it is important that we also take into consideration the extremes of the environment which producers face each season on their farms around Australia."

Such is the environmental variations across at the nine Information Nucleus sites - Trangie, Kirby and Cowra, NSW; Katanning and Narrogin, WA; Hamilton and Rutherglen, Vic; Struan and Turretfield, SA - that during February this year there was an extreme range of nutritional management regimes from green pasture to stubbles supplemented with silage, lupins, oaten hay, triticale, rape, barley and peas.

The Information Nucleus Program integrates a sophisticated design to improve estimates of genetic parameters with a comprehensive measurement program covering over 100 biological and production traits. Progeny are continuously measured for growth, performance and product quality.

"With semen from each ram used at a number of different research sites, the Information Nucleus design allows for accurate analysis of the impact of environment and management on the expression of genetic potential," Prof. Rowe said.

"While levels of performance vary significantly between sites, it is important to determine if ranking of the rams changes under the different environmental conditions."

Although previous research has shown genetic by environment interactions to be relatively minor for a number of common traits, the Information Nucleus program is the most comprehensive study to date in terms of the range of environments and the number of traits measured.

A full analysis is scheduled for completion later this year with the results expected to give breeders and ram buyers further confidence in the use of Australian Sheep Breeding Values (ASBVs) provided through LAMBPLAN and MERINOSELECT.

ASBVs are the most practical way to objectively assess and select for or against a variety of traits. The accuracy of ASBVs has increased dramatically thanks to Information Nucleus data and the program is also delivering new research breeding values (RBVs) and genomic predictions of hard to measure traits based on DNA analysis.

The Information Nucleus is also a key resource for a range of other CRC research activities covering nutrition, parasite and reproduction management.

"A reference population such as the Information Nucleus is recognised as a vital feature for developing and maintaining balanced genetic gain and genomic predictions for the hard to measure traits, as well as gaining a better understanding of genetic by environmental interactions for a number of different traits," Prof. Rowe said.

www.sheepcrc.org.au