Forum—ARS’s Animal Breeding Work In the 18th century, a British
sheep farmer named Robert Bakewell set out to improve his flocks
by controlling their mating activities. At that time, farmers
customarily raised male and female livestock together and
allowed them to mate randomly, but Bakewell wanted more control
over his sheep. So he separated the rams from the ewes and
selected those with the most desirable traits for breeding.
Bakewell embarked on this first-known attempt at selective
breeding nearly 100 years before Gregor Mendel launched the
modern genetic movement by demonstrating that pea plants pass on
traits to their offspring. By the time the U.S. Department of
Agriculture was created in 1862, the practice of improving
livestock through selective breeding was about 100 years old.
USDA scientists may not have invented animal breeding, but
they’ve made many important contributions to the practice.
Animal genetics research from the Agricultural Research Service
has contributed to significant improvements