New Ultrasound and Artificial Insemination Techniques Improve
Sheep Breeding Ewes and lambs on a pasture at the University of
Wyoming Livestock Farm in Laramie. Recent research by ARS may
make artificial insemination of sheep easy enough for producers
to tackle on their own. Bred for meat as well as wool, sheep
have been part of the American landscape since colonial times.
Now, advances in genetic research are changing breeding
procedures, leading to faster, cheaper, and more accurate
techniques. Using Ultrasound for Selective Breeding New research
is making it easier to predict the future—at least as far as
lamb products are concerned. At the U.S. Sheep Experiment
Station in Dubois, Idaho, research leader Greg Lewis and his
colleagues have shown that ultrasound can be used to accurately
predict characteristics that indicate carcass yield and value in
live sheep. This could significantly improve the speed and
accuracy of selective-breeding methods. Since carcass data is
difficult for producers to obtain, many