Breed Improvement SIGNET and EBVs
EBVs (Estimated Breeding Values) of tups and ewes within a sheep flock provide exactly
the management information required to identify the good and the bad. However the
EBV has to be calculated from data collected on the farm, whether this be parentage,
lambing ease, milk score or weight data. this is often a considerable task. For
large flocks this is often time consuming even with EID, and without eid even impossible.
When it comes to collecting information of the farm the mandatoy implimentation of EID (electronic identification) helps in the identifcation and collect of the data. Collecting data with EID is not nessarilly quicker than simply writing the data down, but enables the data to be imported into the computer without typing the data in, thus saving considerable time. Quite literally you can be analysing the data within seconds of returning to the computer. This fact should be stressed to the person doing the data collection, who may not full appreciate the time to manually type his scribbled notes into the computer and the fact that if the data is wrong it is now his fault rather than rather than yours!
"We have customers who annually record over 1500 Llyen ewes which are all registered with SIGNET and have appropreit EBVs."
FarmIT 3000 used in conjunction with EID (electronic Identification) definitely improves thing's as most of our customer would be happy to testify, infact it is the reason why so many people us FarmIT3000. Specially designed routine for lambing, weighing and grading, tupping and scanning enable the data to be accurately collected in order to meet the requirements for SIGNET. Specific reports are produced to send to SIGNET and an specific animal identification code means animals are matched correctly.
EBV data can then be imported back into the software for analysis, animals identified and then loaded into EID readers for identification in the field. The breeding index for example may be used to drive a drafter or displayed on a mobile device (FarmIT Mobile).
The "Breeding Traits" capability of FarmIT 3000 also provides for the import and analyse of genetic markers for example MyoMax .
You may analyse the breeding traits and select animals based on combined EBV scores and your own defined traits, making the time taken to collect and record the data well worth the effort.
For more information on SIGNET and EBVs you may like to check out their website.