One Bachelor of Agricultural Science (BAgrSc)
- 120 Tertiary Level Tourism Qualifications
“so lets get this right – tourism is about going to look at things,
saying yeah that looks different and then staying in a nice hotel
with clean sheets”
Associate Professor Jon Hickford
President of the NZ Institute of Agricultural and Horticultural Science
So only stupid “farm-boys” who can’t
succeed in real subjects and won’t be much
good for anything other than wondering
around in a pair of gumboots drinking beer
should come to Lincoln?
Correct?
No!!
• The Lincoln University Bachelor of Agricultural
Science Degree is a 4 year professional degree
with an additional 39 weeks of practical work in a
variety of leading agribusinesses and it is
“research-lead”
• There are over 80 career agricultural scientists
many with international reputations who
contribute to this degree programme.
What is an international reputation?
Forrest R, Itenge-Mweza T, McKenzie G, Zhou H, Frampton C, Hickford JG. Polymorphism of the
ovine beta-adrenergic receptor gene (ADRB3) and its association with wool mean staple
strength and yield. Animal Genetics. 2009 Jun 15. [In Press].
Zhou H, Lottner S, Ganter M, Hickford JG. Identification of two new Dichelobacter nodosus
strains in Germany. The Veterinary Journal. 2009 Mar 12 [In Press].
Ennen S, Hamann H, Distl O, J. Hickford JG, Zhou H, Ganter M. A field trial to control ovine
footrot via vaccination and genetic markers. Small Ruminant Research 86: 22–25. 2009.
Kunhareang S, Zhou H, Hickford JG. Novel sequence of the porcine IGHA gene. Molecular
Immunology 47(2-3): 147-8. 2009.
Zhou H, Ennen S, Ganter M, Hickford JG. Isolation of new anaerobic bacteria from sheep hooves
infected with footrot. Veterinary Microbiology 139(3-4): 414-6. 2009.
Yang G, Zhou H, Hu J, Luo Y, Hickford JG. Extensive diversity of the ADRB3 gene in Chinese
sheep identified by PCR-SSCP. Biochemical Genetics 47(7-8): 498-502. 2009.
Hickford JG, Forrest RH, Zhou H. Association between a g.+6723G-A SNP in the myostatin gene
(MSTN) and carcass traits in New Zealand Texel sheep. Journal of Animal Science 87(6):
1853. 2009.
Bennett G, Hickford JG, Zhou H, Laporte J, Gibbs J. Detection of Fusobacterium necrophorum
and Dichelobacter nodosus in lame cattle on dairy farms in New Zealand. Research in
Veterinary Science 87(3): 413-5. 2009.
Bennett G, van Loenen A, Zhou H, Sedcole R, Hickford JG. The detection of Dichelobacter
nodosus and Fusobacterium necrophorum from footrot lesions in New Zealand goats.
Anaerobe 15(4): 177. 2009.
So what research is done in
agriculture?
• Lamb Cold-Tolerance Research
Number of Lambs Born
= 28.9 million
(Meat & Wool Economic Service of N.Z., 2001)
15% of all lambs born die before weaning
 15%
(McCutcheon et al. 1981, Everett-Hinks et al. 2009)
= 4.335 million dead lambs
15% of all dead lambs die of cold exposure
x 15%
(Gumbrell & Saville, 1986)
= 650 250 dead lambs due to cold exposure
Average price of a lamb
Cost of neonatal lamb mortality
due to cold exposure in N.Z. per annum
 $80
= $52 million
per annum
So what affects lamb cold survival?
• The Beta-3 Adrenergic Receptor Gene
(B3AR or ADRB3)
• Variation linked with cold survival, birth
weight, growth weight to weaning and
carcass fat (Forrest et al. 2003) – but in
small numbers of lambs only.
So we did a BIG study!
Cause of Death Diagnosis
• Dead lambs were classified as
having died from starvationmis-mothering - exposure
(SME) if they died within four
days of birth and no other
cause of death was obvious,
such as a swollen head
(dystocia), membranes over
the nose (suffocation),
unbroken feet membranes
(stillborn) or birth defects.
• Birth weight and the climate variables at birth were also
recorded.
Birthweight vs. Lamb Death (Literature)
Includes
lambs assisted
& surviving
Figure from Scales et al. 1986 (single lambs only)
Starvation Exposure vs. Birth Weight
Trial Design
• 23 leading breeders – producing
approximately 12 000 lambs p.a. (Breeds:
Corriedale, Suffolk, Poll Dorset, Merino, Polwarth,
Dorset Down, Hampshire, Coopworth)
• Spread geographically from Gore to
Blenheim
• Lambed from July to November
Results
Overall - two alleles of ADRB3 were
associated with increased risk of
cold death
- two alleles of ADRB3
associated with decreased risk of
cold death
- e.g.
Bad allele C – over 9% of lambs
carrying that allele (n=4398) died of
SME in the study
Good allele E – 5.5% of lambs
carrying that allele (n= 4082) died of
SME in this study
•A potentially valuable gene marker!
The added bonus
• Further analysis suggests that the
variation in the Beta-3 adrenergic
receptor gene is an even better
predictor of total mortality and not just
cold-related death
• This was an unexpected but good
outcome and we are currently trying to
ascertain why it is the case
e.g. Merino Specific Results – Total
Mortality – more than 10% deaths
Allele
Frequency Odds Ratio
a
37.4
0.906
b
2.4
0.885
c
34.3
1.168
d
7.1
2.227****
e
14.0
0.668**
f
4.8
0.717
n = 2926
• 0.05 < P ≤ 0.10
• **0.01 < P ≤ 0.05
• ***0.001 < P ≤ 0.01
• **** P ≤ 0.001
The Cold-Tolerance Gene-Marker Test – a
commercial business within the University
• Approximately 15 000 rams tested to date at
$33 plus GST each ($495k gross)
• Used in 5 countries (NZ, Aus. Canada,
Greece and Chile)
• Growing!
Future Plans
• Further alleles to investigate
• Further relationships with fat deposition
and growth rate to be investigated
Acknowledgements
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Dr Rachel Forrest
Mr John Bates
The Sheep Farmers of NZ
Merino Inc
Mid Micron Wools of NZ
RomneyNZ
Dr Huitong Zhou, Freeman Fang, Yang Guo,
Chris Frampton.