Latest news with #Texel
Agriland
16 hours ago
- Sport
- Agriland
Majestic Charolais bull carries the day at Ballymoney Show 2025
The Supreme Cattle Championship at Ballymoney Show 2025 was won by the father and son team, Victor and David Chestnutt. The pair, who hail from Bushmills in Co. Antrim, won the award with their immense Charolais bull: Ballynabreen Tyson. Prior to stepping into the ring for the final class of the show, the animal had won the event's Beef Inter-Breed Championship earlier in the day. Judge John Moore, a Simmental breeder of note, described his champion as a tremendous example of a modern Charolais bull. He said: 'The animal has tremendous scope, size and breed character. But what impressed me most of all was his excellent mobility. 'And this trait is extremely important if a bull is expected to cover a significant number of cows in all conditions throughout a normal breeding season.' But it was a close-run thing. The Charolais bull came up against stiff competition from the Inter-Breed dairy champion at Ballymoney Show 2025: Mostragee Vinny Lauren VG 87. She calved for the first time last October and is currently giving 42 litres of milk per day. The young cow was exhibited by Mark Henry, who manages the 200-strong Mostragee herd with his father Tom. They hail from Stranocum in north Co. Antrim. Lauren was the intermediate champion at the 2024 Royal Ulster Winter Fair. She is due to calve for the second time in October. Clydesdale horses featured prominently at this year's Ballymoney Show But this year's Ballymoney Show was not all about pedigree breeding. One of the most eye-catching animals taking part in this year's event was the Beef Inter Breed reserve – a truly eye-catching Limousin cross heifer, exhibited by Robert Miller from Moneymore in Co. Derry. John Moore described his selection as having all the attributes of an elite beef animal. The Commercial Beef Champion at this year's Ballymoney Show Just over 800 sheep were entered for Ballymoney Show 2025. The inter breed championship was awarded to Jack Gault, from Ballyclare in Co. Antrim with an eye-catching Texel shearling ewe. There are 30 pedigree females in the Gault flock. The prize-winning young ewe will be retained for breeding. James Houston, from Randalstown in Co. Antrim with the Reserve Inter-Breed Sheep Champion at Ballymoney Show 2025 The judge, Keith Campbell from Argyll in Scotland, described his champion as a young sheep with tremendous breeding potential. Campbell said: 'She has a tremendous carcass, excellent mobility and lots of breed type.' Campbell manages flocks of crossing Bluefaced Leicester, Texel, Blackface, and Mule ewes. He was particularly impressed with the large numbers of young people competing at this year's Ballymoney Show. 'It was great to see. The future of livestock breeding in Northern Ireland is in safe hands,' Campbell added.
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Business Standard
27-05-2025
- Science
- Business Standard
India's first gene-edited sheep developed in Kashmir agricultural varsity
Scientists and researchers at the Sher-e-Kashmir University of Agricultural Sciences and Technology (SKUAST) have developed India's first gene-edited sheep using the CRISPR-Cas9 technology. 'Through gene editing, we have targeted a gene in a sheep variety that helps in boosting its muscle weight and would give heavier, almost 30 per cent more weight than normal sheep. We have got the offspring from the mother, and one with the mutated gene is distinctly heavier than the non-mutated,' Vice Chancellor of SKUAST Dr Nazir Ahmed Ganai told Business Standard. He added that the DNA of the mutated lamb, which is now three months old, will be sent to foreign research labs for further verification. The gene-edited lamb has been modified for the 'myostatin' gene – a regulator of muscle growth. 'Muscle mass in the animal is enhanced by nearly 30 per cent by disrupting the gene, a trait naturally absent in Indian sheep breeds but known in select European breeds like the Texel.' The feat was achieved by a team of researchers led by Dean Faculty of Veterinary Sciences, SKUAST-Kashmir, Riaz Ahmad Shah, after a research of around four years Shah's team had previously cloned India's first Pashmina goat- 'Noori'- in 2012. A few weeks ago, the Union Agriculture Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan released the first gene-edited rice varieties in the world developed by Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) scientists using the patented CRISPR-CAS9 technology. The edited sheep contains no foreign DNA, distinguishing it from transgenic organisms and paving the way for regulatory approval under India's evolving biotech policy framework. 'The gene-edited sheep of the local 'merino' breed weighed almost the same as a normal lamb at birth, but within three months, it became at least 100 grams heavier than a non-edited lamb,' Ganai said. He said that when it comes to wool count, a gene-edited sheep won't be much different from a non-gene edited one, and both will give around 2-2.5 kg of wool. 'But being heavier, the gene-edited sheep would give more meat than a non-edited one,' Ganai said.
Indian Express
27-05-2025
- Science
- Indian Express
Kashmir university researchers produce India's first gene-edited sheep: ‘Birth of a new era'
A team of researchers from the Sher-e-Kashmir University of Agricultural Sciences (SKUAST) in Srinagar has produced India's first gene-edited sheep. The gene-editing of the sheep was possible after four years of research and will enhance the muscle mass of the animal by 30%, the researchers said. The breakthrough comes after the release of India's first gene-edited rice variety recently. 'As of now, this has been done at the research level,' said Prof Riaz Ahmad Shah, who led a team of five researchers at SKUAST. 'The technique has multiple applications. We can edit the genes responsible for diseases to produce disease-resistant animals. It can also help in the twinning of animals at birth,' he said. The team of researchers edited the myostatin gene of the lamb that is responsible for regulating the growth of muscle in the sheep. 'By disrupting the sheep, the muscle mass in the animal is enhanced by nearly 30%, a trait naturally absent in Indian sheep breeds but known in select European breeds like the Texel,' Prof Shah said. 'The introduction of this mutation through gene editing, and not through traditional crossbreeding, represents a technological leap.' Earlier, a team of researchers at the National Dairy Research Institute (NDRI) had developed a gene-edited embryo of a buffalo. 'This is not just the birth of a lamb, but the birth of a new era in livestock genetics in India,' said Dr Nazir Ahmad Ganai, vice chancellor of SKUAST-Kashmir. 'With gene editing, we have the ability to bring precise, beneficial changes without introducing foreign DNA, making the process efficient, safe, and potentially acceptable to both regulators and consumers.' The project was sponsored by the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR). Shah said, 'The gene editing was performed using CRISPR-Cas9 technology and adhered to international biosafety protocols.' The gene-editing technique, CRISPR, won the 2020 Nobel Prize in Chemistry. 'The edited sheep doesn't contain any foreign DNA, thus distinguishing it from transgenic organisms. This can pave the way for regulatory approval under India's evolving biotech policy framework,' he said. A veteran scientist, Shah is also credited with the development of the first cloned Pashmina goat, Noori, in 2012. The Pashmina goat survived for 11 years and produced seven kids. With a specialisation in Animal Cloning and Gene Editing, Shah has also played a key role in producing the world's first cloned buffalo at NDRI, Karnal. 'The government is already in the process of making regulations for gene-edited animals. Once that is done, and it is allowed at the farmer level, it will have a widespread application,' he said.
