In July, OMAFRA hosted a series of webinars on topics related to goat genetic improvement. The webinars were held on July 20th, 22nd, 27th and 29th, with speakers presenting on aspects of genetics and genetic improvement programs for both meat and dairy goats.
This post summarizes some of the key take-home messages from the presentations. If you’re interested in learning more, full video and podcast recordings of the presentations are available below. Click the links below to go directly to the presentation you’re interested in learning more about.
Not sure where to start? Check out the Overview of Presentations to hear the key messages from all of our presenters.
- Overview of Presentations
- Keep or Cull: Strategies for Replacement and Culling Decisions
- Scrapie and Goat Genetics in Canada
- Raising Goats $marter, Not Harder
- Accelerating Goat Genetic Improvement with Genomic Selection
- The Canadian Dairy Goat Genetic Improvement Program
- An Introduction to the Canadian Goat Society’s Classification Program
Overview of Presentations
Keep or Cull: Strategies for Replacement and Culling Decisions
by Marlene Paibomesai and Erin Massender, OMAFRA
- Genetic improvement can impact industry and farm-level profitability and competitiveness and also allows the sector to adapt to changing market demands (e.g., sustainability, animal welfare, antimicrobial use).
- Selection and culling decisions are made to change the average performance in the population over time, it is a long-term goal and solution.
- Factors that impact rate of genetic progress include: selection intensity, accuracy, genetic variation, generation interval, and number of traits.
- Maintaining genetic diversity and limiting inbreeding can be achieved by purchasing new buck and doe genetics.
- Voluntary and involuntary culling influence the number of replacements to keep or purchase each year.
- Specific Measurable Attainable Relevant Timely breeding goals help guide your selection decisions.
Scrapie and Goat Genetics in Canada
by Amanda Amaratunga, DVM, CFIA
- For Canada to reach our goal of eradicating scrapie, surveillance must target geographically underrepresented areas of Canada and testing of significantly more mature (>12 month) goats.
- Based on current science, CFIA recommends focusing on alleles S146 and K222 when breeding for scrapie resistance in goats.
- CFIA will be conducting a pilot project in scrapie positive goat herds to better understand the utility of using genetics as an effective tool to help control scrapie.
- Goat producers can do their part by identifying goats, submitting mature dead or slaughtered goats for scrapie testing, reducing inbreeding, selecting for scrapie resistance, and buying goats from (or enrolling on) the Scrapie Flock Certification Program (SFCP).
Raising Goats $marter, Not Harder
by Adam Black, AgSights
- You cannot manage what you do not measure!
- Know your market and the information needed to make buying decisions.
- Choose a record keeping solution that fits into your daily routine that you are comfortable with i.e., don’t choose software if you don’t like using a phone or computer.
- It has to be easy, or you won’t stick with it.
Accelerating Goat Genetic Improvement with Genomic Selection
by Erin Massender, University of Guelph, OMAFRA
- Genomic selection uses small differences in the DNA of individual animals in order to more accurately predict genetic merit of young breeding candidates.
- Proven to rapidly accelerate genetic gain and enable selection on difficult to measure traits.
- Genotyping costs have decreased significantly in recent years making it a feasible selection tool.
- Substantial gains in accuracy are expected from its implementation for the Canadian Alpine and Saanen breeds, especially for does without records and bucks without daughter records.
The Canadian Dairy Goat Genetic Improvement Program
by Brian Sullivan, Canadian Centre for Swine Improvement
- Genetic improvement can reduce costs and increase revenue.
- National genetic evaluations for dairy goats are available at www.GoatGenetics.ca.
- Information on data recording programs is available from the Canadian Goat Society: www.goats.ca.
An Introduction to the Canadian Goat Society’s Classification Program
by Callum McLeod, Canadian Goat Society
- The purpose of classification is to assess an individual animal’s structure according to the ideals of a dairy animal.
- The traits being assessed translate into identifying productive and sturdy animals.
- Classification can be used as both selection and culling tools to increase productivity and longevity in the herd.
Podcast Recordings
If you would rather listen in to the webinar recordings, the audio is available below. Click the name of the webinar that you would like to listen to.
Goat Genetic Improvement Webinars: An Introduction to the Canadian Goat Society's Classification Program – Small Ruminant Webinars
This is a recording of the presentation Introduction to the Canadian Goat Society's Classification Program, originally presented during the 2021 Goat Genetic Improvement Webinar Series. The presenter is Callum McLeod, Classifier, Canadian Goat Society.
- Goat Genetic Improvement Webinars: An Introduction to the Canadian Goat Society's Classification Program
- Goat Genetic Improvement Webinars: The Canadian Dairy Goat Genetic Improvement Program
- Goat Genetic Improvement Webinars: Accelerating Goat Genetic Improvement with Genomic Selection
- Goat Genetic Improvement Webinar Series: Raising Goats $marter, Not Harder
- Goat Genetic Improvement Webinar Series: Scrapie and Goat Genetics in Canada
- Goat Genetic Improvement Webinar Series: Keep or Cull: Strategies for Replacement and Culling Decisions
- Goat Genetic Improvement Webinar Series: Overview
