Exporting Sheep Genetics, how hard can it be?

[yellowbelly]

About ten years ago the North American Lincoln Longwool Association contacted some English breeders with a request to import some semen.

Our vet duly rocked up, TB tested a couple of our tups and off they went, with some more from other flocks, to the semen collection centre to do their stuff.

Fast forward to 12 months ago and the Americans pop up with a request for some more.

Jeez, how times have changed
For starters we needed a dedicated isolation field with a 10 metre gap between it and any other field containing livestock and a suitably qualified vet, with the necessary 'boards' to do the testing (none of our 3 local practices would touch it with a barge pole).

A few UK breeders put forward tups and the Americans chose four with the bloodlines they wanted.

On the 9th April we embarked on a 120 day isolation period and a mass of blood tests for a few diseases I'd heard of ( and a lot more I hadn't)
e.g.
Part 2: Specified Requirements for Identified Risk Organisms 10 2.1 Bluetongue virus (bluetongue) 10 2.2 Foot and mouth disease virus (FMD) 10 2.3 Jaagsiekte sheep retrovirus (ovine pulmonary adenomatosis) 10 2.4 Maedi-visna virus (MV) 10 2.5 Peste des petits ruminants virus (PPR) 11 2.6 Rift Valley fever virus (RVF) 11 2.7 Capripox virus (sheep and goat pox) 11 2.8 Wesselsbron disease virus (Wesselsbron disease) 11 2.9 Brucella melitensis (caprine and ovine brucellosis) 12 2.10 Leptospira serovars (leptospirosis) 12 2.11 Mycoplasma capricolum subsp. capripneumoniae (contagious caprine pleuropneumonia) 12 2.12 Mycoplasma agalactiae (contagious agalactia) 12 2.13 Mycobacterium caprae 12 2.14 Chlamydia abortus (enzootic abortion of ewes) 13 2.15 Coxiella burnetii (Q fever) 13 2.16 Scrapie 13

Two more rounds of blood tests took place before the boys departed for the collection centre in early August. They were subject to a few extra tests due to the fact that the USA consortium of breeders wanted to be able to sell some semen in to Canada and New Zealand in order to spread their costs.

During their stay at the collection centre one of the tups refused to jump - so then there were three. The original target was 250 straws each so the 3 that cooperated had to put in a few extra shifts to fulfil the order.

It was then back to our isolation field for another 8 weeks and another round of blood tests.
On top of this there was a fair bit of paperwork with everything checked and checked again to avoid missing dotting the odd i or crossing the odd t.

The good news is, I've just had an e-mail to say the consignment has arrived at the AI centre in Maine, USA - so, if you're in the USA or Canada or NZ look out for the progeny of one of these guys, skipping round a field near you sometime soon...

It's a 'piece of cake' this export malarky. Even a tiny organisation like the Lincoln Longwool Sheep Breeders Association can do it - and we didn't have to sell Trump the NHS or sign up for any chlorinated chicken.

 

[Purli R]

Well done,pat yourself on the back

 

[Purli R]

So have you & the other breeders made any money from it or is it more of a "taken one for the breed" & bragging rights?

 

[yellowbelly]

So have you & the other breeders made any money from it or is it more of a "taken one for the breed" & bragging rights?

From the outset of this recent operation, it was obvious that with the number and frequency of tests involved, it was going to be an expensive job - the vet was charging 'by the minute' for visits , so we could see they were going to add up.

After initial tests, before isolation, at the expense of the UK breeders, for Scrapie genotype and SBV (all tups from west of Leicestershire were positive for SBV antibodies, so that ruled them out straight away) we sold the tups to the consortium of North American breeders and all further costs and expenses were at their risk.

So, to answer your question, the UK breeders got the tup sale money and we charged a shepherding fee for looking after them in the isolation unit. Nobody's made a fortune but we're not 'out of pocket'.

The unseen benefit is the fact that we now have some UK genetics safely tucked away in the USA should, God forbid, there be a massive disease outbreak or other disaster in the UK.

 

[neilo]

About ten years ago the North American Lincoln Longwool Association contacted some English breeders with a request to import some semen.

Our vet duly rocked up, TB tested a couple of our tups and off they went, with some more from other flocks, to the semen collection centre to do their stuff.

Fast forward to 12 months ago and the Americans pop up with a request for some more.

Jeez, how times have changed
For starters we needed a dedicated isolation field with a 10 metre gap between it and any other field containing livestock and a suitably qualified vet, with the necessary 'boards' to do the testing (none of our 3 local practices would touch it with a barge pole).

A few UK breeders put forward tups and the Americans chose four with the bloodlines they wanted.

On the 9th April we embarked on a 120 day isolation period and a mass of blood tests for a few diseases I'd heard of ( and a lot more I hadn't)
e.g.
Part 2: Specified Requirements for Identified Risk Organisms 10 2.1 Bluetongue virus (bluetongue) 10 2.2 Foot and mouth disease virus (FMD) 10 2.3 Jaagsiekte sheep retrovirus (ovine pulmonary adenomatosis) 10 2.4 Maedi-visna virus (MV) 10 2.5 Peste des petits ruminants virus (PPR) 11 2.6 Rift Valley fever virus (RVF) 11 2.7 Capripox virus (sheep and goat pox) 11 2.8 Wesselsbron disease virus (Wesselsbron disease) 11 2.9 Brucella melitensis (caprine and ovine brucellosis) 12 2.10 Leptospira serovars (leptospirosis) 12 2.11 Mycoplasma capricolum subsp. capripneumoniae (contagious caprine pleuropneumonia) 12 2.12 Mycoplasma agalactiae (contagious agalactia) 12 2.13 Mycobacterium caprae 12 2.14 Chlamydia abortus (enzootic abortion of ewes) 13 2.15 Coxiella burnetii (Q fever) 13 2.16 Scrapie 13

Two more rounds of blood tests took place before the boys departed for the collection centre in early August. They were subject to a few extra tests due to the fact that the USA consortium of breeders wanted to be able to sell some semen in to Canada and New Zealand in order to spread their costs.

During their stay at the collection centre one of the tups refused to jump - so then there were three. The original target was 250 straws each so the 3 that cooperated had to put in a few extra shifts to fulfil the order.

It was then back to our isolation field for another 8 weeks and another round of blood tests.
On top of this there was a fair bit of paperwork with everything checked and checked again to avoid missing dotting the odd i or crossing the odd t.

The good news is, I've just had an e-mail to say the consignment has arrived at the AI centre in Maine, USA - so, if you're in the USA or Canada or NZ look out for the progeny of one of these guys, skipping round a field near you sometime soon...

It's a 'piece of cake' this export malarky. Even a tiny organisation like the Lincoln Longwool Sheep Breeders Association can do it - and we didn't have to sell Trump the NHS or sign up for any chlorinated chicken.

Well done, at least it was a sizeable order worth the effort.? I believe there have been cases where a ram has tested positive at post-collection, likely for sbv, meaning all the effort (& cost!) has been for nothing.

It’s an extremely complex job to comply with the US export health certificate, and it should be noted that it took many, many years for that certificate to be agreed. But no, those new trade deals can be agreed overnight....?

 

[Dry Rot]

Sounds like a good job well done.

For what it is worth, my grandfather left a whole side board loaded with silver from a life time of breeding Devon Long Wools which I assume are now extinct. So these old breeds are worth preserving as obviously somebody wants them.

 

[yellowbelly]

I believe there have been cases where a ram has tested positive at post-collection, likely for sbv, meaning all the effort (& cost!) has been for nothing.

That was our big worry. Initially they should have gone to a collection centre in Scotland but due to it being shut down they were re-directed to one in Malvern - not far from one of our members who's tups had all tested positive for SBV

The SBV test results were the very last to come back - it definitely had me on tenterhooks. In the end everything was clear, probably helped by that last '35ml' of Ectofly I gave them before they left

 

[Purli R]

How big of a job would it be to just export the tups? Or is that a non starter(regardless of cost)??

 

[yellowbelly]

How big of a job would it be to just export the tups? Or is that a non starter(regardless of cost)??

No live export to the USA - only semen and embryos.

It's almost like Trump has built a wall round the place

 

[Bury the Trash]

Sounds like a good job well done.

For what it is worth, my grandfather left a whole side board loaded with silver from a life time of breeding Devon Long Wools which I assume are now extinct. So these old breeds are worth preserving as obviously somebody wants them.

still a few around apparently. https://www.devonandcornwallflockbook.co.uk/

 

[Dry Rot]

still a few around apparently. https://www.devonandcornwallflockbook.co.uk/

Thank you for that. Very interesting! The cups were left to me but the logistics were too difficult and I suggested they should be left to another relative. Hopefully, they made their way back to the society.