National Sheep Improvement Program

Using Technology to Attack the Grow with twoPLUS Initiative

admin — Sun, 06 May 2012 23:21:19 +0000

Title: Using Technology to Attack the Grow with twoPLUS Initiative

The 2012 National Symposium is an educational program of the North Central Extension, Research and Academics (NCERA) committee. The target audience is sheep producers looking to advance their production skills. This year’s symposium features some of the foremost experts from across the country. The goal is to increase productivity, helping those already in the industry to achieve new levels of production efficiency.

The Symposium is titled “Using Technology to Attack the Grow with twoPLUS Initiative” and features some of the top sheep production experts in the country speaking on topics that should be of interest to all producers. View the program and presenters pages for additional information on this informative program.

The Symposium is being held in conjunction with the NSIP (National Sheep Improvement Program) Center of the Nation Sale, which will follow the symposium on Saturday, July 28 in the swine barn of the Clay County Fairgrounds, adjacent to the Regional Events Center.

Registration for the Symposium is $50 prior to midnight, July 19, 2012 and includes program materials, breaks and dinner.

The Symposium will be held at the Clay County Regional Events Center on the Clay County Fairgrounds, Spencer, Iowa. Located in northwest Iowa, Spencer and the nearby Iowa Great Lakes offer a wide variety of activities and attractions. Bring the family and spend a weekend seeing what this part of the state has to offer!

Center of Nation Sale 2012

admin — Sun, 06 May 2012 23:20:00 +0000

Title: Center of Nation Sale 2012

For seven years NSIP breeders have come to Spencer, Iowa the last weekend in July (27th and 28th this year) to put production sheep, with EBVs to back them up, through an auction. It has grown into quite an event. Producers and Universities from across the country bring the highest indexing sheep they can and share those genetics with others. This year’s CNS (Center of the Nation Sale) is even going to be more special. We are very excited to share the weekend with the “Using Technology to Attack the Grow with twoPLUS Initiative”. The North Central Extension, Research and Academics (NCERA) committee has worked for nearly a year to put on the “Using Technology to Attack the Grow with twoPLUS Initiative” symposium. Speakers from all over the US will share their research. People like Richard Ehrhardt, Kreg Leymaster and Keith Inskeep. Iowa State University has set up a special website for registration and information.
http://www.aep.iastate.edu/sheep/homepage.html

Because of the symposium, we expect a much larger group of producers at this year’s sale. Some think we may more than double the attendance. We are also expecting more sheep in the sale. If you have consigned before, you know about the need to get motel rooms early. We fully expect to see new breeds consigned. If you are a new NSIP consignor, especially with a breed that has not previously sold in the sale, please contact Mike Park (parkwoodhillfarm@gmail.com) or Jerry Sorensen(wclones@fmctc.com). We encourage you to be part of the sale and Mike & Jerry want to give you tips on making the sale successful for you. There are things that make this sale different that you need to know. There will be more details about the enrollment forms when they are ready at Conover Auction.

Also I plan on having a NSIP booth set up for those who want more information on NSIP and data entry questions. I will be happy to assist you in any way I can. If your data is on a laptop, feel free to bring it along. We can work through things together. There is no wireless connection at the Spencer Fairgrounds so if you are having troubles with doing an update you need to have your download on your computer ahead of time.

This will be a great opportunity to network with the sheep researchers, NSIP breeders, and like minded producers from across the Nation. Hope to see you there!

Genetics Stakeholders Roundtable Discussion

admin — Mon, 20 Feb 2012 22:25:27 +0000

2/20/2012 – Rodney Kott sent me information about the Genetics Stakeholders Roundtable Discussion that was at the 2012 ASI Convention. Look under the Educational Information/ Seminars and Presentations to find it.

Website Changes Jan 7, 2011

admin — Sat, 07 Jan 2012 15:42:59 +0000

I have combined the NSIP Info and Educational Info tabs to make room for the Elite reports. Hope this does not cause anyone too much trouble.

Elite Reports are here- Jan 7, 2011

admin — Sat, 07 Jan 2012 15:40:36 +0000

First Release of NSIP Elites & Young Ram Trait Leaders
The National Sheep Improvement Program releases the first set of Elites and Young Ram Trait Leaders for three runs; the 61 Range, 62 Maternal Wool and 64 USA Hair. NSIP is still working with LambPlan of Australia to produce the 69 Terminal Elites.

Go to Elites tab to find the Trait Leaders.

This is a good first step and it is better to release the Elites as they are than to wait until staff time at LambPlan can make more modifications. This will be an ongoing process, a high priority for Drs Dave Notter and Jim Morgan and NSIP clients will have the Elites needed. The modifications will provide the improvements in the Elites and Trait Leader lists to meet the diverse needs of the sheep industry. To briefly mention a few of the changes; a) within each of the four runs (61 Range, 62 Maternal Wool, 64 USA Hair, 69 USA Terminal), elites will be separated by breed, b) Number Lambs Weaned (NLW) will be replaced by Number Lambs Born (NLB) and PWEC (post weaning fecal egg count) removed in the Range run. There are several other modifications in the works.

Within the 61 Range Elites and Trait Leaders, multiple breeds are represented. Even though Columbias, Targhees and Rambouillets are listed together, they can not be compared since there are either no genetic connections or too few genetic connections.

In the near future, NSIP will release Elites and Trait Leaders on a monthly basis and have the list of traits provided modified to meet the needs of each run.

12/16/11 Presentations Posted

admin — Fri, 16 Dec 2011 19:42:40 +0000

I received Sam Gill’s presentation which he did at 2 seminars back in September. I have posted the full presentation under Educational Info/Seminars & Presentation. I have also posted a small section of his seminar on the NSIP Info/PW Help page which has to do with how to import data from an Excel spreadsheet into Pedigree Wizard which we just learned about when Sam was in the USA.

I (Mary Sorensen) also did a short presentation about NSIP costs, coding and data submission which I did at the same seminars. It is under Educational Info/Seminars & Presentations with Sam’s full presentation.

New on Website Sept 6, 2011

admin — Tue, 06 Sep 2011 22:23:21 +0000

Dave Notter just sent me the Western Range Notebook. Look under the Educational Info tab for his paper.

Website Changes 8/22/11

admin — Mon, 22 Aug 2011 12:39:42 +0000

Due to a problem with the dropdown menus that I can not fix, I split the breed tab into 2(Breed A-L & Breed M-Z). This caused a new different problem so I have changed the theme of the website to eliminate menu problems. I hope this new look does not bother anybody.

The membership maps now show as a popout menu to the dropdown and are in the sidebar area on the each breed page.

2011 Center of Nation Sale Results

admin — Fri, 05 Aug 2011 19:29:19 +0000

The 6th Annual Center of the Nation Sale was a great success in Spencer, IA on July 30th. The results of the sale are in the following link.
CN Sale Report 2011

Do Not Use in IDs 7/11/11

admin — Mon, 11 Jul 2011 13:09:19 +0000

I just learned last week when I created a new ram ID that there are 15 2-letter combinations that you should never end an ID in. Here is the list:RT NT LT AG RL AM SN MS LS RR BK MM FK LM OO

I know LT means Lost Tag because that is the combo that I used. I do not know what the others mean. If you use one of these you will not get data back on the animal.