For several years, NSIP has offered genetic conditions (susceptibility to Scrapie and OPP, presence of Myostatin and Callipyge, etc.) and genomic parentage, as well as genomic enhancements to our genetic evaluation for some breeds through submission of tissue sampling units (TSU).  However, there are some significant changes as well as important reminders to be aware of.  Fortunately, Dr. Joan Burke has been hired to manage the genomics program for NSIP going forward and will serve as our liaison with Neogen.  If you have a pending order and have not spoken with Dr. Burke, please send an email to genomics@nsip.org as soon as you can.  

To be transparent, the cost of genomic testing has increased three times in less than a year.  Summer 2025 our partners at Meat & Livestock Australia increased the data processing and storage fee by $2.60 and then fall 2025 Neogen began charging $2.00 for the genetic condition reporting.  Through an oversight, those increased costs were not passed on to those members submitting samples. The third increase, also from MLA, began April 2026 at an additional $3.40 per TSU.  So, the final cost on all new submissions will be $38.00 per TSU.  We recognize that the increase in charges is unexpected. We apologize that these costs were not passed along as they occurred.  The actual processing cost at Neogen has not changed.

As mentioned in the April 2026 message from the board, we expect to see significant improvements in reporting of genomics specifically in timeliness of genetic conditions and parentage reports.  With Dr. Ron Lewis’ retirement in late 2025, Neogen began reporting genetic conditions to NSIP rather than MLA together with Dr. Lewis creating those reports. As a result, we expect to see significant improvement in the time needed for genetic conditions reporting. This has been a concern of producers since we began genotyping. Genomic parentage has been streamlined slightly and those reports should be in producer’s hands sooner than in past years.

So, here are the details:

• Download and complete the genomics submission form from NSIP.org.
• All TSUs must be shipped to: Dr. Joan Burke, 4300 Rogers Ave. STE 20, PMB #217, Fort Smith, AR 72903.
• Include payment for your order with your samples at time of shipping. Checks should be made payable to: National Sheep Improvement Program for $38.00 per sample.

Please note: TSUs will not be shipped to Neogen for genotyping until full payment has been received by NSIP.

• At shipping, please email a copy of your submission form to both genomics@nsip.org and info@nsip.org so both Joan and Cody can expect your packages and monitor payments.
• Be sure to include farm name as well as owner name and NSIP flock ID on the submission form.
• The year of birth is critical for the validation necessary for parentage analysis.
• If a sire or dam is being submitted for the first time and they have progeny to be genotyped on the same order, include them in both the New Animal and the appropriate Previously Genotyped sections.
• Avoid typing either the TSU ID or the NSIP ID; incorrect ID numbers especially too many or too few digits are the leading cause of errors and can result in delays in processing.
  • A string of sequential TSU IDs can be created in seconds in Excel. Simply type the first number by hand then select that cell, grab the lower right corner of the cell and drag down to fill those cells with the sequence of ID numbers. (This will be covered in an upcoming webinar on techniques to improve ease of genomic submissions).
  • NSIP IDs can be copied from your raw data then pasted into the submission form to avoid retyping the 16-digit number. Always confirm that there are 16 digits per entry.
  • Notice that the TSU ID begins with letters “NE” or “AF”. The 3 rd character may be a zero but never the letter “O”. Always confirm that there are 10 digits per entry.