The Genetic Programme
Grindon has an extremely powerful genetic programme which has been developed over the years. The whole breeding flock is evaluated in the Merino Select Data Base. Lambs are entered as young as possible with pedigreed animals having most measurements including micron, CV, yield etc. by six months age, thus gaining a breeding year on sire evaluation and dam selection, identifying some top sires for use at seven months age, and maximising generation turnover.
The top 10% of the entire 4000 breeding ewes are allocated for ram breeding, mated to the top sires or inseminated, and fully pedigreed. The 400 top remaining maiden ewes are used for sire evaluation, mated in groups of 50 and also fully pedigreed thus providing more accurate ewe EBV’s for entry to the ram breeding flock.
All young sheep are fully evaluated at 12 months age, and mostly kept for another measurement at two years old when significant changes in ranking occur and selection becomes far more accurate. Ongoing addition of data from all related animals to the database means that the best animals, based on the most up-to-date information, are selected each year.