Anderson sires have already expressed high genetic merit for resistance to internal parasites in the Uruguayan environment. But there have been doubts about how visual traits, fleece quality and production would compare when Anderson Rams are bred in such a different environment, notably for rainfall.
In the trials in two locations in Uruguay, three Anderson sires were used alongside 9 Uruguayan bred rams. Rainfall for the first 12 months was 1997mm.
Progeny were assessed for fleece weights, yield, fibre diameter, wool quality (colour, handle and wool character), fleece rot, face cover, pigmentation, and body weights.
The report by Dr Raul Ponzoni notes:
“Progeny of Anderson Rams selected for resistance to internal parasites in Australia express their superiority and are comparable in other traits to the best in Talitas Rams [A highly worm resistant local stud] selected in Uruguay.
The results presented in this paper should help allay concerns about the performance of their progeny with regards to production traits and visually assessed characters.
For all traits considered, the progeny of Anderson rams compared well with that of Talitas. More specifically, in the case of GFW and CFW, two of the heaviest cutting progeny are by Anderson rams. Fibre diameter among all progeny ranged between 17 and 18 microns.
Anderson rams produced two of the heaviest progeny groups, one of them having the greatest Live Weight.
Coupled with the wool quality results, this should put at rest fears about wool colour and quality more generally. The two best scoring progeny groups were from Anderson rams. Jointly considered, the results for fleece rot and wool quality suggest that in this regard, the Anderson rams performed as well as, if not better, than Talitas rams.”