Ultrasound Carcass Evaluation

The ability to take measurements (e.g. loin eye size) on the carcass of an animal before sending it to slaughter means that superior animals can be identified and used for breeding rather than for consumption. All major livestock species use ultrasound technology to scan the carcasses of live animals in an effort to improve carcass quality. However, this technology has not been widely used in the sheep industry. A recent push towards doing so and to train persons to scan live animals is a priority of the National sheep Improvement Program. Carcass traits are believed to be highly heritable, so significant improvement in carcass quality, such as increased size of the loin eye, should be achievable in less than a decade. In 2019, Tom traveled to Penn State University for an NSIP-sponsored workshop on ultrasound carcass evaluation. He is now certified to scan sheep and began scanning the lambs at Waldoview in 2019. We are especially excited about the use of this technology and the improvements that are possible with the use of these additional data. We believe we have identified the genetics for superior muscling in a few of our ewe lines. Time will tell if our suspicions are correct.