Iowa Farmer Today
09-22-07
Sheep producers banking on EPDs
By Jeff DeYoung, Iowa Farmer Today
DYSART -- Using expected progeny differences (EPDs) may be new for some
sheep producers, but for Kathy Krafka Harkema it’s just part of the program.
“We’ve offered our customers EPDs since 1998,” she says. “Our flock is known
for its natural muscling and accelerated growth, and EPDs have been a tool we
can use to help our customer select the right animal for their flock.”
Harkema, who manages Krafka Harkema Suffolks near Montezuma, grew up in
the sheep business. Her father operates Rich Krafka Family Suffolks near here in
Northeast Iowa.
The family is involved with the National Sheep Improvement Program (NSIP), a
computerized, performance-based program designed for better genetic selection.
Started in 1987 at Iowa State University, the program offers EPDs producers can
use to choose seedstock based on specific genetic requirements.
The NSIP has held sales in Iowa each of the last two years, Harkema says.
“This year’s Center of the Nation sale was Aug. 4 at the Clay County Fairgrounds
in Spencer, and we had 103 lots that averaged $511 per head,” she says.
“Last year, we had 75 entries, so the sale has already grown quite a bit with
producers from throughout the Midwest in attendance.”
Five breeds were represented at the sale. Harkema says having EPDs available
to potential customers helped bring in a decent crowd.
“With the EPDs, we are able to market these animals and get them out to the
people that need them,” she says. “With five breeds at the sale, it was one-stop
shopping.”
Genetic progress in the sheep industry has been slow, says Dan Morrical, ISU
Extension sheep specialist in Ames. Morrical and former colleague Doyle
Wilson developed the NSIP program at ISU 20 years ago.
“We still have an average lambing rate of 1.1. We’ve seen some improvements in
market weights, but not so much with rate of gain, ribeye area and maternal
traits,” he says.
“The hog industry really started using EPDs when they started getting signals
from the market that they need to create a leaner product.
“The sheep industry hasn’t had a lot of that, but now they are starting to see
some pressure economically and are moving along some, although not as fast as
we’d like.”
The NSIP program is run through Virginia Tech University in Blacksburg.
Morrical says improvement has been evident in a few breeds, such as Suffolk
and Polypay. Other breeds, he says, are starting to move forward as well as they
begin to participate more heavily in NSIP.
Morrical says most breeds will focus on traits, such as lambs born, maternal milk,
60-day or weaning weight, and 120-day weight. Some breeds known for specific
traits, such as wool production, are developing other EPDs.
“We have to be able to give the commercial buyer the confidence to select the
animal that is going to get him where he wants to go,” Morrical says. “We are
making progress, but it’s slow.”
Harkema says more producers are becoming involved in the NSIP, allowing them
to offer more information to customers. While animals need to be structurally
sound, she adds EPDs take the guesswork out of genetic selection.
“An EPD is an objective measurement, a technology you can use to advance
your genetics,” Harkema notes.
“We have genetics in our flock that we have used for a long time, but we use
EPDs so we can produce foundation ewes or stud rams that other flocks can use
to improve their genetics.
“We have lambs now that are more vigorous at birth. We have ewes that are
better milkers, and our customers are getting the same results.
“We have a lot of repeat customers, and our entire business is built on that.”
Harkema, who is president of the Iowa Suffolk Sheep Association, believes EPDs
are an integral part of the sheep industry’s future.
Judging by the success of the Center of the Nation sale, she is absolutely certain
the use of EPDs will eventually be common-place.
“I really believe we are just getting started,” she says.