Genomics: Sharper Selection, Faster Gain
Genomics doesn't change what makes a good sheep. It changes how early and how accurately we can identify one.
At Triple Farms every lamb is DNA tested with sire and dam verification, and all three flocks — Coopworth, Coopdale and Suftex — are fully recorded on SIL. Genomics builds directly on that foundation. Instead of waiting for an animal to produce its own performance record or progeny before its true breeding value is known, DNA information is combined with pedigree and performance data to give a far more accurate estimate of breeding value from birth.
Why this matters under commercial pressure
Every stud animal at Triple Farms is run alongside the commercial flock from weaning through to mating, under the same conditions. Anything that can't perform is culled, regardless of pedigree or figures. Genomics sharpens that process at the point it matters most: before an animal has had the chance to prove itself, or fail to. It reduces the risk of retaining an animal that looks right on the day but doesn't breed well, and it gives more confidence when selecting replacement rams and ewes and when deciding which hoggets earn their place after mating.
Because selection decisions are more accurate, genetic improvement compounds faster, meaning higher lambing percentages, faster lamb growth, better carcass performance, and more kilograms of lamb weaned per hectare. Depending on the trait and the breeding programme, genomics is estimated to lift the rate of genetic gain by roughly 15–30%.
Where it counts most: the hard-to-measure traits
Some of the most valuable traits in a commercial flock are also the hardest and most expensive to measure directly. We’re talking facial eczema tolerance, worm resistance (FEC), fertility, survival, feed efficiency. These are exactly the traits Triple Farms already tests hard for: FEGold-accredited Coopworths tested for FE since 1985, maternal rams FEC tested, hoggets mated and required to get in lamb to stay in the stud. Genomics improves the accuracy of breeding values for traits like these, particularly in young animals that haven't yet had the chance to demonstrate them naturally.
It also strengthens confidence in traits that are inherently low-heritability, such as fertility and lamb survival, where performance records alone are a slower and less reliable guide.
Suited to a low-input system
New Zealand's pasture-based, low-input systems put a premium on sheep that thrive with minimal intervention. Triple Farms runs a strict no-drench policy in ewes, minimal drenching in lambs, and ewe hoggets lamb unshepherded on hill country. Genomics is particularly valuable for breeding toward exactly this kind of animal: one that converts grass to lamb efficiently, holds condition, resists parasites, and needs less animal health input to do it.
How it flows through to NZMW and Terminal Worth
In New Zealand, genomic information feeds into the national genetic evaluation system, improving the accuracy of NZMW (maternal worth), Terminal Worth and individual trait breeding values, especially before an animal has progeny of its own. For a commercial buyer, that means more reliable figures to buy on, earlier.
The bottom line
Genomics doesn't replace stockmanship, culling under pressure, or performance recording, it simply makes all three more accurate. Combined with the structure-first, low-input breeding programme already running across the Triple Farms Coopworth, Coopdale and Suftex stud flocks, it's another tool for making sure the genetics leaving Triple Farms are the ones that will actually perform on a commercial farm, not just look good on paper.
