A special merino field day in Trangie has featured the ewe progeny from 16 diverse industry sires making up the 2018 drop.
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More than 150 people have attended the Macquarie Merino Lifetime Productivity (MLP) project field day, hosted by the NSW Department of Primary Industries at the Trangie Agricultural Research Centre on Wednesday.
Sire entrants, industry representatives and commercial producers inspected 550 MLP progeny in their sire cross dam type groups, with their wool and carcass results.
The field day was the second held at Trangie, and NSW DPI MLP site manager Dr Kathryn Egerton-Warburton said she was "pleased" with the roll up.
The MLP project is designed to collect data on merino sheep across their lifetime, the field day is an opportunity for visitors to see the 2018 drop ewes displayed both in sire groups and ewe base type, making 32 groups in total.
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The Macquarie ewe base is made up of two bloodlines of contrasting skin type and levels of wrinkle.
"What we do is have a regular field day, we draft the sheep up into their sire groups and we have the results of their assessments available for people to have a look at the sheep and also have a look at the results," Dr Egerton-Warburton said.
Dr Egerton-Warburton said Trangie is one of 10 sites nationally that operate sire evaluation and the field day is useful for local producers and representatives to get hands on with the sheep.
"We had them drafted up into their sire group and then we also had them into their ewe types they were born to, so it gave people the opportunity to have a look at how a particular sire went when it was crossed with a particular type of ewe," she said.
"It also gives people an opportunity to learn a little more about the project and it also gives them an opportunity to if they're looking for particular sires that might meet their breeding objectives, then they can look at the progeny of those sires in comparison to others in the local area."
The MLP project is a 10-year partnership between Australian Wool Innovation (AWI), AMSEA and five sire evaluation sites including the Macquarie site hosted by DPI and the Macquarie Sire Evaluation Association.
Zaarkacha Marlan
Court and crime reporter at the Daily Liberal. Formerly the sole journalist for the Nyngan Observer, Narromine News and Trangie Advocate.
Court and crime reporter at the Daily Liberal. Formerly the sole journalist for the Nyngan Observer, Narromine News and Trangie Advocate.
