Sheep flock improvement program changes hands

Tuesday, July 6, 2010

by PATRICIA GROTENHUIS

One Ontario sheep producer hopes a change in the administration of the Sheep Flock Improvement Program will mean speedier results. The Ontario Sheep Marketing Agency (OSMA) is taking over the program from the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs.

“It’s important [for producers] to get results in a timely fashion for flock management,” says Bill McCutcheon, sheep producer from Grand Valley. McCutcheon explains that sometimes he had already sold his lambs before results arrived from the province.

The program has offered producers access to genetic evaluations to aid management decisions since the 1970s. It was administered by the provincial agriculture ministry until April 1, 2010. 

The marketing agency’s takeover is scheduled to be complete by September 7, 2010, preventing any interruptions to producers, states Sandy Sorbara, OSMA project coordinator in a July 5 email.

The agency and ministry hope the change will increase the benefit to producers.

“We are currently working on making this program more user-friendly by developing a web-based system,” Sorbara writes, explaining that this will make the information available to producers anywhere and at any time.

It’s hoped that the combination of a closer link to producers with the marketing agency running the program and changes such as the web-based approach will encourage more producers to sign up. 

The provincial ministry anticipates the online presence will facilitate integrating the program with other programs such as traceability, states spokesperson Susan Murray in a July 5 email.

The province provided OSMA with a one-time payment of $275,000 to administer the program over the next three years. Sorbara says the money will help develop more genetic reports, outsource the run of genetic evaluations, marketing and promotions, and working with the national and other provincial sheep organizations.

Currently, the Canadian sheep industry only fills 41 per cent of domestic demand.  Jennifer MacTavish, executive director of the Canadian Sheep Federation, says genetic selection can help improve individual ewe productivity. BF