Low input sheep trials NZ ,

Global ovine · Jul 19, 2021

Jimdog1 said:
Thanks for the reply. I know abattoirs report lung problems found on kill sheets in the uk but not sure if anyone is collating that info. On my own plot vaccinating for pneumonia is a must and is pretty effective. If 30-40% of lambs are effected in NZ surely the development of a vaccine would be the biggest step forward the industry could take in regards to performance and methane and carbon emissions?

I recall an address at a sheep industry conference in the mid 1990s by a Kiwi scientist working in Australia on respiratory diseases in sheep. After more than a decade, his conclusions were something like; Pneumonia/Pleurisy in the UK/Europe will be largely covered by a vaccine in the near future as one pathogen was the main cause, in Australia maybe in the following decade, but in NZ the complexity of the pathogenic associations involved will take a long time to unravel as there are just too many involved. He stressed that the best control in NZ and to a lesser extent in Oz was to perform as many jobs as possible, such as drenching, in portable yards as close to where the animals are grazing. Also to move sheep slower so they do not deep breathe, thereby preventing irritants from entering the lung tissue where the numerous bacteria naturally present can establish a lesion.

The NZ disease is not OPP or OPA, but a variety of pathogenic combinations according to the environment.
A huge amount of research into NZ Pneumonia Syndrome has already occurred and ongoing, but no silver bullet found yet. Research at the molecular level may find a link, but I wouldn't hold my breath waiting.
Breeding for resistance appears a better approach to this NZ problem than vaccinating. But how do we create a consistent challenge to rank out the superior individuals when some years its occurrence is negligible and other years devastating within flocks?

sheepdogtrail · Jul 19, 2021

Global ovine said:
He stressed that the best control in NZ and to a lesser extent in Oz was to perform as many jobs as possible, such as drenching, in portable yards as close to where the animals are grazing. Also to move sheep slower so they do not deep breathe, thereby preventing irritants from entering the lung tissue where the numerous bacteria naturally present can establish a lesion.

Solid advice. Applicable to all sheep and the humans (and their dogs) that attend to them.

jamesy · Jul 22, 2021

Who’d ever have thought there would be ebv considerations for co2 & methane in a breeding programme!

Global ovine · Jul 22, 2021

jamesy said:
Who’d ever have thought there would be ebv considerations for co2 & methane in a breeding programme!

A decade ago I probably thought that the whole answer to GHG emissions was in what ruminants ate or had added. Since then some forage cultivars have indeed shown to be superior, such as Tetraploid Ryegrasses and Sugar Grasses when in the rapid growing stage, and some brassicas which produce 20 - 30% less methane. However research has clearly shown the huge difference naturally occurring in our current flocks before any selection has taken place. If a selection policy was instigated, 0.5 - 1% gain per sheep generation is easily achievable at no disadvantage to either the selection goals for functionality or productivity traits.

Of course none of this will be of financial benefit to the ram buying farmers unless some form of credit can be made to an individual farm GHG emission profile. If all farmers are treated generically without their unique farm profiles accounted for, then using such an important tool will make little sense other than the satisfaction from a moral obligation point of view.

The direction of travel for on-farm GHG accounting in NZ is swiftly heading to individual farm plans. All a part of the current farm assurance dealing with animal health/welfare, water quality, etc. Therefore data on the superiority of the genetics used for GHG emissions will be very important information, just as area under cultivation or forestry will be in determining the farm's carbon profile when it comes to TAXATION. Such programmes for GHG calculating are now being used on NZ farms, e.g. Overseer, for farmers to now make farming systems adjustments so they are in a better place than having to buy carbon credits (currently at $NZ38.00 and expected to rise to $80.00 /T) to offset their emissions.

beynon · Jul 23, 2021

Are any precautions taken to prevent the importation of the "devastating" NZ lung condition into the UK?

easyram1 · Jul 23, 2021

beynon said:
Are any precautions taken to prevent the importation of the "devastating" NZ lung condition into the UK?

60 day quarantine in off farm approved quarantine centre. These premises are supervised/owned by vets. Blood tests at start of quarantine period repeated prior to their leaving quarantine for immediate flights to UK: declarations by farm owner about any disease found on farm or in abattoir in any slaughter sheep over the ??previous 2 years that has to be verified by vendors vet. When coming over brand new crate is built for each consignment and lined in new plastic. On arrival at Heathrow the crate is removed and burnt at importers expense. We have never had any health issue with any NZ sheep imported into the UK over the last 12 years.

Global ovine · Jul 23, 2021

beynon said:
Are any precautions taken to prevent the importation of the "devastating" NZ lung condition into the UK?

As previously explained; Pneumonia/Pleurisy Syndrome in NZ is not caused by an unique single pathogen, but a collection of them working together after something has entered the lungs causing irritation to the lung lining enabling a disease lesion to develop. All these "bugs" came from the UK with historical sheep imports, however the disease is driven by environmental factors in NZ that obviously don't occur in the UK.

Yale · Jul 24, 2021

Global ovine said:
As previously explained; Pneumonia/Pleurisy Syndrome in NZ is not caused by an unique single pathogen, but a collection of them working together after something has entered the lungs causing irritation to the lung lining enabling a disease lesion to develop. All these "bugs" came from the UK with historical sheep imports, however the disease is driven by environmental factors in NZ that obviously don't occur in the UK.

So are temperature differences or certain soil types to blame,i.e. Types of dust raised and inhaled during dry periods.

UK generally a wetter climate so less dust however that will be too simplistic.

exmoor dave · Jul 24, 2021

Global ovine said:
As previously explained; Pneumonia/Pleurisy Syndrome in NZ is not caused by an unique single pathogen, but a collection of them working together after something has entered the lungs causing irritation to the lung lining enabling a disease lesion to develop. All these "bugs" came from the UK with historical sheep imports, however the disease is driven by environmental factors in NZ that obviously don't occur in the UK.

Yale said:
So are temperature differences or certain soil types to blame,i.e. Types of dust raised and inhaled during dry periods.

UK generally a wetter climate so less dust however that will be too simplistic.

I have a very good sheep veterinary book from NZ called "The sheep"

There is a section on the pneumonia link between moving sheep on tracks and yarding in dirt yards,
Which points the finger at excessively dusty environments for pneumonia outbreaks.
In more extreme cases, the authors suggest sprinkler systems for yards to damp down dust

easyram1 · Jul 24, 2021

exmoor dave said:
I have a very good sheep veterinary book from NZ called "The sheep"

There is a section on the pneumonia link between moving sheep on tracks and yarding in dirt yards,
Which points the finger at excessively dusty environments for pneumonia outbreaks.
In more extreme cases, the authors suggest sprinkler systems for yards to damp down dust

Talking to one of guys we are buying rams off last week and he was saying overenthusiastic shepherds with too many dogs in overused sheep yards are responsible for most pneumonia type problems. Said having sheep that are easily worked in yards is essential for stud breeders

neilo · Jul 24, 2021

How are the Beltex imports getting on over there, with regards to these breathing problems? Or are they just not run quickly to yards anyway?

Yale · Jul 24, 2021

neilo said:
How are the Beltex imports getting on over there, with regards to these breathing problems? Or are they just not run quickly to yards anyway?

Nah,they just die before they get a chance to catch pneumonia.

Wisconsonian · Jul 24, 2021

Jimdog1 said:
Thanks for the link. Not something I have come across - long may that be!

I haven't been able to find if OPP is limited to North America, or not. Are you familiar with Maedi-Visna? or CAE in goats? some sources say they are the same virus, just different names in different places/species.

egbert · Jul 24, 2021

easyram1 said:
Talking to one of guys we are buying rams off last week and he was saying overenthusiastic shepherds with too many dogs in overused sheep yards are responsible for most pneumonia type problems. Said having sheep that are easily worked in yards is essential for stud breeders

May be it'd be better to aim at breeding 'stud rams' in a system that matched real world applications?

As for trying to breed out methane emissions.....that's like admitting they're a problem.
Kick the concept right out the park...refuse to accept the lie, challenge the accusation with the simple chemistry.
Methane from ruminants is a non-story, there's virtually no more now than there has ever been.
Don't waste time trying to kowtow to the antis. You're only hamstringing yourself.

easyram1 · Jul 24, 2021

Wisconsonian said:
I haven't been able to find if OPP is limited to North America, or not. Are you familiar with Maedi-Visna? or CAE in goats? some sources say they are the same virus, just different names in different places/species.

Maedi Visna was imported into the Uk with certain imported sheep 30 - 40 years ago. NZ is officially MV free in terms of imports but all our imported rams are tested for it after importation. None ever found positive

easyram1 · Jul 24, 2021

egbert said:
May be it'd be better to aim at breeding 'stud rams' in a system that matched real world applications?

So stud sheep are likely to have lots of things happen that are not normal on commercial farms ie we weigh lambs at birth/8 weeks/weaning/scanning. All lambs are ultrasound scanned for eye muscle depth and back fat. Rams are then selected for CT scanning. Ewes are weighed and BCS scanned post weaning and pre tupping. Ewes are selected for specific individual mating groups. Rams are sold on an individual basis not by the lorry or trailer load. So how can all these 'extras not be 'real world' tasks?

Global ovine · Jul 24, 2021

Yale said:
So are temperature differences or certain soil types to blame,i.e. Types of dust raised and inhaled during dry periods.

UK generally a wetter climate so less dust however that will be too simplistic.

I dare say there are many more factors than temperature, but lung irritants opens a whole new book of candidates, from silica crystals in dust, pollens, fungal spores, etc. through to combinations of any of these.
I think the answer is not so much identifying all the irritants, but preventing the sheep from heavy breathing by walking them rather than having them running, especially up hill, therefore sucking irritants to the bottom of their lungs.
In the deep south where covered yards are necessary, good cross ventilation is essential as ammonia is very corrosive on delicate lung tissue enabling the normally benign "bugs" to invade and cause this disease. Again, the complexity of this disease in NZ means the commonly used pneumonia vaccines from the UK proved very inadequate in NZ.

neilo said:
How are the Beltex imports getting on over there, with regards to these breathing problems? Or are they just not run quickly to yards anyway?

The main buyers of Beltex are using them in cross breeding or to introgress extra meat yield into other breeds. The NZ prime lamb industry's profitability depends more on growth rate than meat yield.
There is one dominant stud flock that also produces numerous breed crosses and several with very small numbers of pures. Texel throat is an infection of the larynx, not the lungs. I have heard comments that they cannot be pushed by huntaways or you end up carting them, not driving them to their destination. More a matter of awkward mobility.

Global ovine · Jul 24, 2021

egbert said:
As for trying to breed out methane emissions.....that's like admitting they're a problem.
Kick the concept right out the park...refuse to accept the lie, challenge the accusation with the simple chemistry.
Methane from ruminants is a non-story, there's virtually no more now than there has ever been.
Don't waste time trying to kowtow to the antis. You're only hamstringing yourself.

To date the antis are poisoning your market with their "don't eat meat......farmers are destroying the environment" propaganda. Hiding behind your belief does not affect their belief or counter the damage they are doing to primary production and human nutrition. Only the having of scientific facts will expose these clowns for their naivety.
You are right, methane is a non story, as it works on a short cycle and improvements in pastoral efficiency means it is and can be reduced, but so far it is being used against farmers. So has become a huge story.....weapon against farmers.
Breeding for less methane output (which has no negative correlations to productive genetics) will substantially reduce GHG emissions from animal protein production (both dairy and red meat) ensuring most pastoral farms to be carbon neutral or better.
Do nothing and get kicked about by those who are looking for scapegoats. At the moment the victims are you, me and our farming mates.

Yale · Jul 25, 2021

Settling in nicely @easyram1

easyram1 · Jul 25, 2021

Yale said:
Settling in nicely @easyram1

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