The trouble with sheep and goats…
Significant variations in how individual animals respond to fluctuating weather conditions could provide the key to breeding sheep and goats able to cope with climate change, scientists believe.
In a study, led by Scotland’s Rural College (SRUC), animal performance records were compared with weather data – including the average daily temperature and humidity.
Researchers found the same weather change invoked a variety of responses in different animals-while the production of some was not affected at all, making them more resilient to climate change.
With a significant proportion of the observed variation being genetic and heritable, researchers concluded that animal resilience to weather change could be improved through selective breeding.
The study which was part of a multi-million pound Eu-funded research project set to run until 2020 is aimed at future-proofing the sheep and goat farming industry.
SRUC professor Georgios Banos said the results of the study could be used to further improve the accuracy of selective breeding, leading to the enhanced sustainability and profitability of farms.
“Climate is changing, bringing about increased weather volatility and farm animals have different capacities to cope with this change,” he said.
“We investigated the genetic mechanisms that make an animal resilient to weather conditions, allowing it to maintain performance when challenged with weather volatility.
He said that this meant that by selectively breeding for enhanced performance – such as high production and health – farmers could also breed for performance stability when external environmental conditions change.