Category: Uncategorized

The Livestock Conservancy invites you to celebrate International Heritage Breeds Week  Sunday, May 21 through Saturday, May 27. During the ninth annual celebration, the Conservancy is sharing the critically important message that rare breeds of livestock and poultry are an important part of the climate solutions needed for a changing planet.

Biodiversity matters.  Today, ¾ of the world’s food supply draws on just 12 crops and five livestock species according to the United Nations.  Yet, global demand for livestock products is expected to increase 70 percent by 2050.

“Many of our breeds contain traits carefully developed over hundreds of years,” describes Dr. Judy Brummer, Interim Executive Director for The Livestock Conservancy.  “Today, heritage breeds serve as primary reservoirs of the genetic diversity found within most domesticated species of animals.  Up to 50 percent of a breed’s biodiversity is found nowhere else within the species.”

Breeds of livestock and poultry depend on individual breeders for their survival, as they exist only in domesticated species.  That’s why the Conservancy’s 4,000+ farmers, ranchers, and shepherds throughout America serve as a volunteer army in the fight to save irreplaceable genetics.  Embedded within the DNA of 192 breeds on their Conservation Priority List are sustainable solutions to face tomorrow’s changing environment.  And they’re exquisitely suited to meet today’s small-scale farming and homesteading goals.

Today, Santa Cruz Island sheep are being used for fire mitigation in the drought-stricken west.  Brahma chickens thrive in cold climates as good winter egg layers.  And long-lived Florida Cracker cattle produce excellent beef in hot and humid regions with poor pasture quality.

“Failures in breed conservation are easy to recognize because numbers tell nearly the whole story,” continues Brummer.  “They either fall drastically or the breed becomes extinct, such as the Narragansett Pacer horse in the mid-1800s.  The Pacer’s popularity for crossbreeding led to insufficient pure-blooded breeding stock and eventual breed collapse.  The Livestock Conservancy has worked for more than four decades to ensure that never happens again.”

By raising awareness about these endangered breeds through International Heritage Breeds Week, The Livestock Conservancy promotes their usefulness in providing fiber, meat, milk, work, sport, or conservation grazing. A major factor in successful breed prosperity is the steady demand for the breed’s products and services.

“Each breed best fits a specific environment,” concludes Brummer.  “Yet, when a breed goes extinct, those genetics are lost and can never be recovered.  Many heritage breeds retain traits like natural immunity, drought tolerance, easy birthing, flavor, mothering instincts, and foraging abilities that are important both today and tomorrow.”

To learn more about International Heritage Breeds Week, where to locate heritage breed products in your local area, and how you can get involved in the rare breed conservation of cattle, chickens, donkeys, ducks, geese, goats, horses, pigs, rabbits, sheep, and turkeys, please visit www.LivestockConservancy.org.

Why is genetic diversity important?

Like all ecological systems, agriculture depends on genetic diversity. In domestic animals, genetic diversity is revealed in distinct breeds, each with its different characteristics and uses. Diversity is necessary to adapt food systems to an ever-changing environment. Heritage breeds retain essential attributes for survival and self-sufficiency. These include fertility, foraging ability, longevity, hardiness, maternal instincts, and resistance to diseases and parasites. As agricultural needs change, this genetic diversity will be necessary to ensure adequate food and fiber production. Once lost, genetic diversity is gone forever.

What Are Heritage Breeds?

Heritage breeds are traditional livestock and poultry breeds raised and stewarded for generations. Some of the breeds on the Conservation Priority List have been found in America for more than 500 years.  These breeds were carefully selected over time to emphasize the traits that made them successful in their local environments. They thrived under farming practices and cultural conditions often very different from those found in our modern agricultural systems.

Heritage breeds are in danger of extinction. As agriculture changed over the years, many of these breeds fell out of favor. Heritage breeds store a wealth of genetic resources that are important for our future and the future of our global agricultural food systems.

For more information, please email erjohnson@livestockconservancy.org or call The Livestock Conservancy at (919) 542-5704.  Staff specialists are available for interviews and additional high-resolution photos can be provided upon request from the world’s largest collection of heritage breed photos.

Issuance Date: December 1, 2022

Effective Date: Immediately     

Effective immediately, sheep and goat in-vivo embryos and oocytes from the United Kingdom of Great Britain (England, Scotland, Wales) and Northern Ireland will be eligible for import into the United States. Importation of such commodities is only permitted for direct transfer to recipient females in U.S. flocks or herds listed in the National Scrapie Database, or to an Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS)-approved embryo storage facility where they may be kept until transfer to the aforementioned recipient females.

The importer of record must meet post-entry requirements pertaining to further distribution of imported embryos/oocytes, identification of any progeny derived from the imported embryos/oocytes, and recordkeeping. The import requirements and post-entry requirements are available on the Live Animal Imports website.

APHIS requires an import permit for importation of sheep and goat embryos/oocytes from the United Kingdom. The shipment must also be accompanied by a health certificate endorsed by the competent authority of the exporting region (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs in Great Britain; Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs in Northern Ireland). Examples of the required health certificates can be found on the APHIS website.

For any questions regarding import of sheep and goat embryos/oocytes from the United Kingdom for transfer to eligible U.S. recipient females, please contact Dr. Mary Kate Anderson at (301)851-3300, Option 2 or e-mail LAIE@usda.gov.

For importation of sheep and goat embryos/oocytes for any purpose other than reproduction, please consult the Veterinary Services Permitting Assistant (VSPA) to determine the relevant import requirements.

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Check out the latest learning opportunity on 11/30/22 from the University of Rhode Island!

Topics will include controlling GI parasites, genetic selection and your breeding program, and use of estimated breeding values (“EBV”), followed by a Q & A with speakers

Sheep and Goat Producers:

Am proud to share with you the below Special Event that the ASI Region 1 Sheep organizations have sponsored. This session will focus on the USDA rule change that will impact producers access to certain medications and will require a prescription going forward starting in Mid-2023. The event requires registration. Once registered, you will receive a confirmation with login details. I encourage anyone who has livestock to attend this session so that you are prepared for when the change goes into effect and have the medications you need to treat your animals. Although  the event requires registration it is open to all, so feel free to forward to anyone that you think may be interested or benefit from it.  Further description and details are below.

Have EWE heard?  Join us on November 17^th at 7PM (Eastern Standard Time)as we hear from Roselle Busch, DVM, School of Veterinary Medicine, University of California – Davis about what the upcoming Veterinary Client Patient Relationship changes mean for sheep and goat producers.   In June 2023, all antimicrobials will require a veterinary prescription.   Dr. Busch will explain the change and what producers need to know to be ready.  The virtual meeting is hosted by:  Pennsylvania Sheep & Wool Growers Assoc; New Jersey’s Garden State Sheep Breeders; New York’s Empire Sheep Producers; Connecticut Sheep Breeders, Inc; Massachusetts Federation of Sheep Assoc; Vermont Sheep & Goat Assoc; New Hampshire Sheep & Wool Growers Assoc; and Maine Sheep Breeders Assoc.  Registration is required in advance of the meeting:  https://psu.zoom.us/meeting/register/tJAocOmhqTIrHNPhrRvutByM_MYTOHq3-3ES    After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting.  You can join by computer, smart device, or telephone.

You are invited to a Zoom meeting.

When: Nov 17, 2022 07:00 PM Eastern Time (US and Canada)

Register in advance for this meeting:

https://psu.zoom.us/meeting/register/tJAocOmhqTIrHNPhrRvutByM_MYTOHq3-3ES

After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting.

The following very timely article comes from Michael Metzger, Michigan State University/ Jackson County Extension’s Small Ruminant Instructor:

As fall approaches, so does the normal breeding season for most sheep and goats. Consideration for things like parasite count, hoof health, body condition scoring, and overall health of breeding stock should be evaluated prior to breeding.

This article was published by Michigan State University Extension. For more information, visit https://extension.msu.edu. To have a digest of information delivered straight to your email inbox, visit https://extension.msu.edu/newsletters. To contact an expert in your area, visit https://extension.msu.edu/experts, or call 888-MSUE4MI (888-678-3464).