Australia You Have Footrot, Time to Start Breeding Against it!

Abstract

Footrot affects all aspects of sheep production and has substantial welfare and economic impacts in the New Zealand (NZ) and Australian sheep industries. Merino sheep managed in high rainfall environments are particularly susceptible. Funding and support from the NZ fine wool industry has enabled development of a breeding value for footrot susceptibility. Currently, breeding values with a reportable accuracy are available for approximately 30,000 MERINOSELECT animals. However, only 97 of these animals are from Australian flocks. The following manuscript challenges Australian sheep breeders to take advantage of the resource developed by the NZ fine-wool industry and consider their own input into improving the outcomes for Australian breeders looking to reduce footrot susceptibility within their flocks.