HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH		QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced] Author: Keyword(s): Year:  Vol:  Page:

This Article Full Text (PDF) All Versions of this Article: jas.2008-1148v1 86/11/3252    most recent Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Lupton, C. J. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Lupton, C. J.

ASAS Centennial Paper: Impacts of animal science research on U.S. sheep production and predictions for the future

Texas AgriLife Research, Texas A&M System, San Angelo

c-lupton{at}tamu.edu

Abstract

One hundred years ago, there were more than 48 million sheep in the U.S. In 1910, they were valued at $4/head with 43% of income coming from sale of sheep, lambs, and meat and 57% from wool. Fluctuations in this ratio over the years have challenged breeder and researcher alike. By 2007, sheep numbers had declined to 6.2 million with the average sheep shearing 3.4 kg of wool (representing < 10% of income), 0.2 kg more than in 1909 but 0.5 kg less than fleeces in 1955. Sheep operations have declined by more than 170,000 in the past 40 yr. A cursory examination of this information might lead one to conclude that animal science research has made little impact on sheep production in the U.S. On the contrary, lamb crops in the new millennium (range = 109 to 115%) are greater than those recorded in the 1920s (85 to 89%) and dressed lamb weights increased from 18 to 32 kg from 1940 to present. In the past century, researchers conducted thousands of investigations with progress reported in new, existing, and crossbreed evaluations, quantitative and molecular genetics, selection, nutrition, fiber, meat, hides, milk, growth, physiology, reproduction, endocrinology, management, behavior, the environment, disease, pharmacology, toxicology, and range, pasture, and forage utilization such that a vast amount of new information was accrued. Our understanding of sheep has benefited also from research conducted on other species, and vice versa. Many factors that have contributed to the decline in the sheep industry are not influenced easily by academic research (e.g., low per capita consumption of lamb meat, predation, reluctance to adopt new technology, cost and availability of labor with sheep-related skills, and fewer young people pursuing careers in agriculture). The size of the U.S. sheep industry is expected to remain stable with possible slow growth in the foreseeable future. To remain profitable, producers will take advantage of new (or previously unused) technology, the public’s desire for things natural, domestic niche and international fiber markets, and the sheep’s ability to control noxious weeds and thrive in sub-optimal ecosystems.

Key Words: impact • future • research • sheep production

This article has been cited by other articles:

				D. A. Schneider, A. Tibary, T. Raudsepp, P. J. Das, and K. I. O'Rourke Blood chimerism confounds genetic relative susceptibility testing for classical scrapie in sheep J Vet Diagn Invest, May 1, 2009; 21(3): 295 - 305. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]