Australia on a mission to breed the perfect Merino sheep

An Australian government research agency is hard at work to produce the perfect breed of Merino sheep in the country.

The Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) was conducting the Merino Lifetime Productivity Project in New South Wales at its research institute, where Merino sheep were being bred, monitored and then bred again.

According to the CSIRO, the research aimed at improving the genetic quality of Merino sheep without having to sacrifice the quality of the breed’s wool.

Dr Sabine Schmoelzl, lead researcher, said that genetics had come a long way, together with technology, to offer farmers more information about their animals.

According to the CSIRO, research had led to improvements in the modern Merino that minimised the trade-off between sheep that produced good-quality wool and ewes that could successfully rear lambs. “A productive sheep is one that is healthy and can cope with the demands of rearing a lamb quite successfully. Very fine wool in particular is known to have productivity trade-offs, but in the modern Merino, that’s not so much the case,” said Schmoelzl.

She said the current research would help farmers when it came to choosing selection traits.

“The ones that are the most passionate about the animals are also the ones who really run very productive enterprises,” said Schmoelzl.

“The project will create a huge amount of information on genetic and visual traits on diverse Merino types across a range of environments to help farmers better understand and deliver Merino ewe performance outcomes for the Australian Merino industry,” said the CSIRO. –

CSIRO Long-term research is being conducted on Merino ewes in Australia.