July 15, 2026 • 8 mins
Kathryn McRae says why sheep genetics is an ever evolving subject.
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
A day.
Speaker 2 (00:01):
The Muster Events Diary brought to you by Beef and
Lamb New Zealand. Click Beeflambenz dot com now.
Speaker 1 (00:12):
And tell me that I'm clever now. Katherine McCrae joins
us in the Beef and Lamb slot this afternoon. The
song is stay Away, mister the artist is leased alone
in nine stories. Well, speaking of stories, if you want
to have a better line there at the Smoker Room,
we're sure our next guest will be able to do that.
Katherine McCray thanks for joining us on the mustard now.
We spoke to your brother, actually met earlier on in
(00:34):
the hour. But you're a scientist majoring in genetics must
be a fascinating line of work. Good afternoon, Good afternoon.
Speaker 2 (00:42):
How's it going. Yes, yeah, I've been working in animal
genetics for the past decade or more so really good
to be able to do something that has practical application
to my background, which is growing up on a farm.
Speaker 1 (00:56):
Genetics is just ever evolving. I mean we're seeing that
at the moment off the battle last year question, there
seems to be a lot of triplets being born this year.
Are we going to be able to actually just have
twin producing sheep in the future. Is this a possibility
or is it just pine the sky thinking.
Speaker 2 (01:13):
That's definitely something that farmers would love if we could
do that. Unfortunately, in terms of number of lambsborn the genetics,
the genetic component is there, but it's not really strong.
So what we see as we increase scanning percentage from
a genetics perspective, at least that also increases the number
of triplets. So unfortunately, not a straightforward answer, and probably
(01:37):
things like nutrition play much more of a role than
genetics for that, although there is a small component.
Speaker 1 (01:44):
Give people a little bit of a backstory about getting
into your role regarding genetics, Catherine.
Speaker 2 (01:50):
My big story is one of those fortunate being in
the right place, right time. Always love genetics at school,
studied it at university and there was a conversation with
a bank manager actually, as I was sort of home
from university. He asked what I wanted to do, and
when I said I was interested in having a more
(02:11):
practical application, he introduced me to a stud breeder who
introduced me to some scientists at Egg Research and they
offered me a further post grad study and the rest
is history. So yeah, really loved combining what I've studied
at university with actually that practical on farm application.
Speaker 1 (02:31):
You talk about genetics being ever evolving. Methane reduction has
been something that's been a focus over the past couple
of seasons. What's going to be the next big thing
in genetics.
Speaker 2 (02:41):
Yeah, a group has done quite a bit in the
methaane reduction space. Some of the things that are coming up,
both in New Zealand and internationally are things like feed efficiency,
so how we can breed for animals that consume less
feed for their amount they grow. And then also which
is my main air of trust in terms of disease,
(03:01):
so particularly with an ever changing climate, consumers asking less
inputs with the earth stock, what we're seeing is we
increasingly need animals that can actually cope with diseases better
there parasites or pneumonia or facial exima or any of
those other diseases. And so a lot of my research
(03:22):
is trying to figure out how we can breed for
animals that can cope with embedded genetically as well, we're
in burdens.
Speaker 1 (03:28):
Interesting you bring that up, Catherine, that is a major
problem on farms.
Speaker 2 (03:32):
Yes, yeah, and genetics is definitely one of those tools
that is a tool in your toolbox. When we talk
about genetics, we talk about it being permanent and cumulative.
So if your ran breeder is breeding for reduced parasite
burdens through or increased parasite resistance, that is going to
(03:54):
be a great tool to have in your toolbox long
term and your youth flock in particular.
Speaker 1 (04:00):
Now, the LAMMX conference, like we say, Matt talked about
it earlier in the hour, but your perspective being all
about genetics and the likes, what were some really interesting
insights that you got from it.
Speaker 2 (04:12):
Yeah, it was great being over there, caught up with
a few Australian colleagues, which was really good. We don't
get a chance to do that too often. It was
interesting to compare what's happening in Australia with what's happening
in New Zealand, and there was definitely some parallels. Sheep genetics,
which is the Australian equivalent of beef and lamb genetics here,
(04:33):
for example, started offering a tool where you can take
DNA samples from about twenty us in your flock or
lambs and they can get processed and you can get
an estimate you can kind of benchmark how your flock
performs in terms of breeding values, and so Beef and
Lamb Genetics over here has just launched their improof track
(04:55):
at All, which does something similar using your RAM tags.
As a commercial farmer, that's a way for you to
have a look at your use and your flock and
actually see how they compare on things like New Zealand
maternal worth compared to the national average. And so that
then helps you decide where you want to go in
(05:16):
terms of RAM selection, which is incredibly useful. So they
were they had launched that and like I said, it's
about the same time as something similar was being launched
over here, but it was interesting to see how they
were talking about how it could be practically used on farm.
Speaker 1 (05:33):
Would you say sheep genetics and New Zealand is on
a par with your Australian counterparts.
Speaker 2 (05:39):
A lot of the Australian stuff is focused on marinos,
but definitely I would say that the like in New
Zealand we've had for the last time thirty years, I
guess we've had the Central Progeny Test has been helping
with their genetic evaluation and being able to be cross breed,
(06:01):
which is pretty impressive. So I think that our sheep
genetics in New Zealand is definitely held up to a
high standard globally.
Speaker 1 (06:09):
So there's just a pleathor of things. I suppose it
comes under the genetic spanner. I think from your perspective,
it must be a fascinating subject and when you think
about science and what the possibilities are, and Matt talked
about it before, the way that AI is coming to
the equation, what does that actually do for you guys
with AI being involved.
Speaker 2 (06:30):
Yeah, it's definitely something that we are investigating, is how
we can use AI tools both in terms of genetics,
how we evaluate the animals, but also how we measure
them as well. We've got a number of things that
we measure that are currently done by I or by
feel things like body condition score or DAG score and
(06:52):
other traits like that, structural traits like feet and so
there's definitely a bit of work starting and how we
can take take them from being scored by human to
being scored using AI tools, which is pretty exciting. So
then from science perspective, what we just need is to
(07:14):
be able to validate that. But it potentially means that
we can measure a lot more animals and have standard
measurements as well.
Speaker 1 (07:22):
Meggot resistance shape.
Speaker 2 (07:23):
Is this a possibility, Well, I mentioned Dag's score before,
so in New Zealand we measuring fly strike is a
lot harder because, you like, from a genetics perspective, you
have to measure animals when there is a challenge, which
we'd prefer not to do. It's so, but what previous
(07:43):
work has shown is that fly strike is quite highly
correlated with DAG score. So DAG score is one of
those things that it's fairly easy to measure. There's a
I think it's one to five scale from a breeder's perspective,
and about forty to forty five percent of the variation
we see between animals is due to genetics. So you
(08:05):
can measure and select your animals based on dagscore. You're
going to make a quick progress and it's going to
have an impact on fly strike as well.
Speaker 1 (08:15):
Plenty to ponder there, Catherine, thanks for your time on
the muster of this afternoon and genetics. There's a possibility.
There's a million possibilities out there. Keep up the great work.
I appreciate your time.
Speaker 2 (08:26):
Cheers, Thank you very much, No I know that.
Speaker 1 (08:29):
And Katherine McCrae and the Beef of lamb Slut. Click
beeflaminz dot com slash events to receive the e Diary
in your own box every Friday morning. Julie Edwards is
up next from Sheerwell UK. Before the end of the
Yell of Nathan Burden, you say,
A day.
Speaker 2 (00:01):
The Muster Events Diary brought to you by Beef and
Lamb New Zealand. Click Beeflambenz dot com now.
Speaker 1 (00:12):
And tell me that I'm clever now. Katherine McCrae joins
us in the Beef and Lamb slot this afternoon. The
song is stay Away, mister the artist is leased alone
in nine stories. Well, speaking of stories, if you want
to have a better line there at the Smoker Room,
we're sure our next guest will be able to do that.
Katherine McCray thanks for joining us on the mustard now.
We spoke to your brother, actually met earlier on in
(00:34):
the hour. But you're a scientist majoring in genetics must
be a fascinating line of work. Good afternoon, Good afternoon.
Speaker 2 (00:42):
How's it going. Yes, yeah, I've been working in animal
genetics for the past decade or more so really good
to be able to do something that has practical application
to my background, which is growing up on a farm.
Speaker 1 (00:56):
Genetics is just ever evolving. I mean we're seeing that
at the moment off the battle last year question, there
seems to be a lot of triplets being born this year.
Are we going to be able to actually just have
twin producing sheep in the future. Is this a possibility
or is it just pine the sky thinking.
Speaker 2 (01:13):
That's definitely something that farmers would love if we could
do that. Unfortunately, in terms of number of lambsborn the genetics,
the genetic component is there, but it's not really strong.
So what we see as we increase scanning percentage from
a genetics perspective, at least that also increases the number
of triplets. So unfortunately, not a straightforward answer, and probably
(01:37):
things like nutrition play much more of a role than
genetics for that, although there is a small component.
Speaker 1 (01:44):
Give people a little bit of a backstory about getting
into your role regarding genetics, Catherine.
Speaker 2 (01:50):
My big story is one of those fortunate being in
the right place, right time. Always love genetics at school,
studied it at university and there was a conversation with
a bank manager actually, as I was sort of home
from university. He asked what I wanted to do, and
when I said I was interested in having a more
(02:11):
practical application, he introduced me to a stud breeder who
introduced me to some scientists at Egg Research and they
offered me a further post grad study and the rest
is history. So yeah, really loved combining what I've studied
at university with actually that practical on farm application.
Speaker 1 (02:31):
You talk about genetics being ever evolving. Methane reduction has
been something that's been a focus over the past couple
of seasons. What's going to be the next big thing
in genetics.
Speaker 2 (02:41):
Yeah, a group has done quite a bit in the
methaane reduction space. Some of the things that are coming up,
both in New Zealand and internationally are things like feed efficiency,
so how we can breed for animals that consume less
feed for their amount they grow. And then also which
is my main air of trust in terms of disease,
(03:01):
so particularly with an ever changing climate, consumers asking less
inputs with the earth stock, what we're seeing is we
increasingly need animals that can actually cope with diseases better
there parasites or pneumonia or facial exima or any of
those other diseases. And so a lot of my research
(03:22):
is trying to figure out how we can breed for
animals that can cope with embedded genetically as well, we're
in burdens.
Speaker 1 (03:28):
Interesting you bring that up, Catherine, that is a major
problem on farms.
Speaker 2 (03:32):
Yes, yeah, and genetics is definitely one of those tools
that is a tool in your toolbox. When we talk
about genetics, we talk about it being permanent and cumulative.
So if your ran breeder is breeding for reduced parasite
burdens through or increased parasite resistance, that is going to
(03:54):
be a great tool to have in your toolbox long
term and your youth flock in particular.
Speaker 1 (04:00):
Now, the LAMMX conference, like we say, Matt talked about
it earlier in the hour, but your perspective being all
about genetics and the likes, what were some really interesting
insights that you got from it.
Speaker 2 (04:12):
Yeah, it was great being over there, caught up with
a few Australian colleagues, which was really good. We don't
get a chance to do that too often. It was
interesting to compare what's happening in Australia with what's happening
in New Zealand, and there was definitely some parallels. Sheep genetics,
which is the Australian equivalent of beef and lamb genetics here,
(04:33):
for example, started offering a tool where you can take
DNA samples from about twenty us in your flock or
lambs and they can get processed and you can get
an estimate you can kind of benchmark how your flock
performs in terms of breeding values, and so Beef and
Lamb Genetics over here has just launched their improof track
(04:55):
at All, which does something similar using your RAM tags.
As a commercial farmer, that's a way for you to
have a look at your use and your flock and
actually see how they compare on things like New Zealand
maternal worth compared to the national average. And so that
then helps you decide where you want to go in
(05:16):
terms of RAM selection, which is incredibly useful. So they
were they had launched that and like I said, it's
about the same time as something similar was being launched
over here, but it was interesting to see how they
were talking about how it could be practically used on farm.
Speaker 1 (05:33):
Would you say sheep genetics and New Zealand is on
a par with your Australian counterparts.
Speaker 2 (05:39):
A lot of the Australian stuff is focused on marinos,
but definitely I would say that the like in New
Zealand we've had for the last time thirty years, I
guess we've had the Central Progeny Test has been helping
with their genetic evaluation and being able to be cross breed,
(06:01):
which is pretty impressive. So I think that our sheep
genetics in New Zealand is definitely held up to a
high standard globally.
Speaker 1 (06:09):
So there's just a pleathor of things. I suppose it
comes under the genetic spanner. I think from your perspective,
it must be a fascinating subject and when you think
about science and what the possibilities are, and Matt talked
about it before, the way that AI is coming to
the equation, what does that actually do for you guys
with AI being involved.
Speaker 2 (06:30):
Yeah, it's definitely something that we are investigating, is how
we can use AI tools both in terms of genetics,
how we evaluate the animals, but also how we measure
them as well. We've got a number of things that
we measure that are currently done by I or by
feel things like body condition score or DAG score and
(06:52):
other traits like that, structural traits like feet and so
there's definitely a bit of work starting and how we
can take take them from being scored by human to
being scored using AI tools, which is pretty exciting. So
then from science perspective, what we just need is to
(07:14):
be able to validate that. But it potentially means that
we can measure a lot more animals and have standard
measurements as well.
Speaker 1 (07:22):
Meggot resistance shape.
Speaker 2 (07:23):
Is this a possibility, Well, I mentioned Dag's score before,
so in New Zealand we measuring fly strike is a
lot harder because, you like, from a genetics perspective, you
have to measure animals when there is a challenge, which
we'd prefer not to do. It's so, but what previous
(07:43):
work has shown is that fly strike is quite highly
correlated with DAG score. So DAG score is one of
those things that it's fairly easy to measure. There's a
I think it's one to five scale from a breeder's perspective,
and about forty to forty five percent of the variation
we see between animals is due to genetics. So you
(08:05):
can measure and select your animals based on dagscore. You're
going to make a quick progress and it's going to
have an impact on fly strike as well.
Speaker 1 (08:15):
Plenty to ponder there, Catherine, thanks for your time on
the muster of this afternoon and genetics. There's a possibility.
There's a million possibilities out there. Keep up the great work.
I appreciate your time.
Speaker 2 (08:26):
Cheers, Thank you very much, No I know that.
Speaker 1 (08:29):
And Katherine McCrae and the Beef of lamb Slut. Click
beeflaminz dot com slash events to receive the e Diary
in your own box every Friday morning. Julie Edwards is
up next from Sheerwell UK. Before the end of the
Yell of Nathan Burden, you say,
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