16 March 2009

AgResearch will once again this year join forces with other industry leaders and agricultural providers at the South Island Field Days, which will be held next week (25 to 27 March) in Lincoln.

This year AgResearch's exhibition will be all about sheep - from the latest research to assist farmers with management and breeding programmes, to what happens to the wool once it leaves the farm gate.

While Field Days are focused on the farming industry, the fashion industry will certainly make an impact this year, with AgResearch making the leap from faming to fashion as part of its exhibition titled "The Sheep Revolution".

Seven designer garments from last year's highly successful New Zealand Fashion Week, which featured unique new woolen fabrics developed by AgResearch, will be on display. Creations from top New Zealand designers, Cyble, Jimmy D, Annah Stretton and Jaeha will demonstrate the exceptional characteristics of AgResearch's Natural Easy Care wool suiting fabric, non-woven windproof fleece, next- to-Skin superfine Merino knitwear and Vintage Dyed Merino.

AgResearch Corporate Affairs manager, Allanah James, says this exhibition will illustrate the "full circle of wool" - from the farm gate to the retail market. "It's an outstanding opportunity to highlight the scientific expertise AgResearch can provide, in order to add maximum value to wool," she says.

Visitors to the Field Days will also get the chance to get up close and personal with the creepy crawlies that can play havoc with untreated wool carpets. A clear perspex cage and powerful zoom camera linked to a plasma screen will allow the public to see these nasties up close as they enthusiastically munch their way through an untreated wool carpet. This will highlight research that will hugely benefit the wool carpet industry through the development of environmentally acceptable wool treatment solutions which are effective in producing insect resistant wool carpets. Wool fiber has the unique problem in that it is prone to attack by certain moth and beetle larvae and developing a long term non-insecticidal solution is important for maintaining the wool textile and carpet industries' international competitiveness into the future.

A new genomic tool called the Ovine SNP chip will also feature. With this chip DNA samples from breeding animals can be scanned once for 50,000 different genetic predispositions, rather than having to perform separate tests for each variant. This technology offers the potential to greatly increase the rate of genetic gain in the sheep industry. The chip is now commercially available for breeders and researchers.

Another gene discovery related AgResearch project is its sheep survival research. A DVD will show farmers how to forensically examine their dead lambs to ascertain the cause of death. The DVD was developed as a research tool, to allow farmers to collect reliable data for AgResearch scientists on the causes of lamb deaths. In order to identify survival genes in sheep, it is necessary to know exactly why lambs die. The real cause of death can often only be determined by autopsy.