In 2017, for the first time in recent history, DSANA was successful in importing Lacaune semen from Genelex in France. The semen came from two government-supervised ram farms that supply semen to the sheep dairy farms in France that supply the milk for the production of Roquefort blue cheese. DSANA facilitated the purchase of 900 straws ordered by 19 farms throughout the USA. So far, 14 of those farms have done the AI work with some or all of their semen. The reported pregnancy rates from AI performed in 2017 have varied between 35% and 83%. From the 2017 importation, approximately 350 lambs were born and most were healthy and were successfully raised.
In 2018, we again imported Lacaune semen from Genelex, which arrived in the US in late October. We'll have an update on that semen shortly.
To assist the next round of farms doing AI work with the next round of semen, we have started to publish case studies as to the methods used by certain farms. We hope this information will lead to greater pregnancy success rates in the future.
As the DSANA Genetic Improvement Program gains traction, we will be monitoring the results of our semen importation program. This will take some time but we hope all the farms that have used imported semen participate in this exciting new program, so we can see the actual results and hoped for improvement in profitability at North American Sheep Dairy Farms.
For information on DSANA's Semen Importation program, contact Tom Clark at clark@dubinclark.com
Information on the French Lacaune breed: its selection process and genetic improvement, and the rams (semen) acquired for the 2017 DSANA semen importation. (From presentation by Genelex [Lacaune association] at the 2017 Dairy Sheep Symposium in Orford, Quebec.
Details of the genetic merit of the rams (semen) acquired by DSANA in 2017 & 2018:
Remember: US participants in DSANA's Genetic Improvement Program and DSANA's Semen Importation program MUST be registered in APHIS' Scrapie Program! To find out about Scrapie, how to register for the Scrapie program (it is easy!!), and where to get Scrapie tags, go to our