Ag & Range

Photo courtesy USMARC A diagram showing the offspring of Romanov sheep raised at USDA Meat Animal Research Center.

Photo courtesy USDA ARS A ewe stands with two lambs at the United States Department of Agriculture Animal Research Service.

USDA studies Romanov genetics

u By Alexa Johnson USDA Communication Specialist

Today, I’d like to introduce you to one of the most unique breeds in the world! The Romanov breed, a Russian breed, that has unique characteristics in the sheep industry.

Romanov lambs are born with a black hair coat with white wool growing in as the sheep age. When mature, the breed is a mottled gray, white and black due to the black undercoat with a predominantly black head. Romanov sheep are a medium-framed breed with ewes averaging about 100-150 pounds and the rams 150-180 pounds. The ewes are excellent mothers that produce high volumes of milk for their lambs. But this is where they are VERY unique and of great interest to the sheep industry; Romanov ewes are highly fertile, almost always give birth to three or more lambs when mature. Often, ewes have four or five lambs per birth and occasionally more, with one ewe giving birth to nine! Wow! Romanov ewes can easily raise two or three lambs, and any more than that are cared for in a nursery.

Romanov research at USMARC has been conducted for over 30 years and there have been many remarkable findings. Today, I will share a few of the highlights. As I reported earlier, the Romanov breed excels as a maternal breed with increased fertility and a lack of seasonality breeding issues associated with other breeds of sheep. However, the large number of lambs born requires much more intensive labor than most sheep producers desire or can accommodate. And, while the Romanov breed is very prolific these sheep do not excel in other important areas for the sheep industry, such as growth, lean meat yield, or behavior. To address these issues while capturing maximum value from the Romanov breed, Dr. Kreg Leymaster led several crossbreeding studies to evaluate how to optimize the amazing fertility and maternal ability in a crossbred or “composite” population. Consequently, the Romanov breed is now the main genetic contributor to the USMARC Composite IV (C-IV), which is 1/2 Romanov, ¼ White Dorper, and ¼ Katahdin. Based on comprehensive discussions with sheep industry stakeholders, the White Dorper and Katahdin breeds were selected to best compliment the Romanov breed in the C-IV population.

More recently, research by Drs. Brad Freking and Tom Murphy at USMARC better defined the contributions of the three breeds included in the USMARC C-IV breed. Their research showed that the White Dorper crossed to the Romanov produced significantly more lambs per ewe exposed in both barn lambing and pasture lambing situations when compared to four other breeds also crossed with Romanov. The White Dorper breed contributed superior growth and lean meat yield. The popular breed, Katahdin, further contributes to growth, parasite resistance, and hoof health and attracted the attention of the producers across the U.S.

Further research is now focused on preventing mastitis infection, and improving udder quality, pneumonia resistance, and behavioral characteristics – Romanovs tend to be a bit skittish and are more difficult to manage than other breeds. In addition to matching the C-IV to high-growth and heavy muscled rams, or terminal sires, to maximize the value of the lambs produced for market. The C-IV is now being adopted by the sheep industry and is a valuable genetic resource for the sheep industry.

Prior to importing the Romanov breed, USMARC first evaluated exotic Finnsheep for projects looking at prolificacy. A project looking at the relative performance of crossbred ewes for production efficiency traits proved to establish the superiority of Finnsheep and Romanov breeds above other breeds, such as Dorset, Texel, and Montadale, as maternal or ewe breeds. Looking closer, scientists documented that the Romanov outperformed the Finnsheep in four general categories of traits: lamb survival, percentage lambing, number born per ewe lambing, and length of seasonal fertility, so the Finn Sheep was not considered for further research at the time.

A third project completed at USMARC using the Romanov and Rambouillet breeds showed the uniqueness of the Romanov ewe. Figure 1 shows a Rambouillet ram mated with Romanov ewes and vice versa. As you can see in the top right photo, the Romanov ewes lambed three to four lambs compared to the Rambouillet ewes having either one or two lambs per birth. Interestingly, when both groups of resulting female lambs were followed as breeding replacements there were no differences in lifetime productivity based on how the crossbred Romanov ewe lambs were originally produced. These findings were important because producers can create crossbred Romanov ewes using Romanov rams without needing purebred Romanov females.

In summary, the Romanov breed of sheep has been in the U.S. for many years and has been a great addition to the sheep industry. USMARC is continuing to research the Romanov breed, and we are excited to see the impact of this research for the sheep industry!

Preston Renner, redshirt junior of Broomfield, Colorado, continues to wrestle his opponent Cael Smith, freshman of Hyrum, Utah, even with blood streaming down Renner’s face during Monday’s men’s wrestling dual against Northwestern Junior College in the Chicoine Center.

Eagles sweep Plainsmen

Story and photos by Mackenzie Dahlberg

CSC men’s wrestling team took down Northeastern Junior College for its first dual of the season, 43-0, winning all of Monday night’s matches with five pins in the Chicoine Center.

“They’re out there and when the other team doesn’t score and doesn’t win a match, including the extra matches, obviously that’s exciting to see that,” Brett Hunter, head men’s wrestling coach, said. “I’m excited where they are at right now. We know where their shape is, we know where the technique is.”

Two of the ten dual matches and three of the four exhibition matches were won with pins by the Eagles.

Dean Neff, redshirt freshman of Jefferson, Wisconsin, started off his second year as an Eagle in the varsity 165-pound weight class and pinned Plainsman Vince Beeson, freshman of Broomfield, Colorado, at the last second of the first period.

“It was good because it was my first varsity start,” Neff said. “It’s just nice feeling that all the work you put in is starting to pay off and starting to show.”

He said that he also felt Coach Hunter did a great job on preparing the entire team for the first dual.

All three of the 285-pound weight class bouts, varsity and exhibitions, were won by falls. Mason Watt, redshirt junior of Broomfield, Colorado, pinned his opponent Riley Butt, freshman of Rio Rancho, New Mexico, with 13 seconds left in the second period, earning six points for the Eagles, and finishing the team’s sweeping win over the Plainsmen.

“He’s (Watt) just one of those guys that continues to work hard,” Hunter said. “We knew we would have an opportunity to turn the guy and obviously he did that and got the pin.”

Gavin Peitzmeier, redshirt sophomore of Omaha, and Terry Win stead, redshirt junior of Harrah, Oklahoma, pinned the same wrestler, Austin Garcia, freshman of Sterling, Colorado, in their heavyweight exhibition matches. Peitzmeier pinned Garcia in 1:28 and Winstead finished his match at 1:33.

Ethan Leake, redshirt sophomore of Clois, California, was the first match up of the night in the 141-weight class exhibition against Kross Pollacia, freshman of Evergreen, Colorado, who he pinned just shy of two minutes.

Hunter said that people want excitement during duals, they want our guys trying to score points and overall, the wrestlers did that.

Eli Hinojosa, redshirt junior of Imperial, earned 10 points by the end of the first period with five take downs during the 197-weight class. He continued building the point gap with two more take downs in the sec ond period along with a reversal and a take down in the third. Hinojosa finished out his match with a point for riding time and had a major deci sion win over Kordell Culhane, freshman of Fort Collins, Colorado, 19-7.

Chance Bockenstedt, freshman of Polk, Iowa, made his debut as an Eagle in the 149-pound weight class against Riley Bornhoft, freshman of Sterling, Colorado, and took his first college match with a major decision, 19-10.

CSC’s men’s wrestling team travels for the Colorado School of Mines Amateur Open, starting at 9 a.m., Sunday in Golden.

Preston Renner, redshirt junior of Broomfield, Colorado, continues to wrestle his opponent Cael Smith, freshman of Hyrum, Utah, even with blood streaming down Renner’s face during Monday’s men’s wrestling dual against Northwestern Junior College in the Chicoine Center. Taylor Lindstrom, right, freshman of Rapid City, South Dakota, and Kamila Montenegro, junior of Las Vegas, Nevada, yell during one of the men’s wrestling match against Northwestern Junior College while sitting with the rest of CSC women’s wrestling team in the Chicoine Center.

ABOVE: Eli Hinojosa, redshirt junior of Imperial, pushes Plainsman Kordell Culhane, freshman of Fort Collins, Colorado, toward the mat during the men’s wrestling dual against Northwestern Junior College, Monday in the Chicoine Center.

LEFT: Dean Neff, redshirt freshman of Jefferson, Wisconsin, locks his hands together to keep his opponent, Vince Beeson, freshman of Broomfield, Colorado, in place during Monday’s men’s wrestling dual against Northwestern Junior College in the Chicoine Center.

Eagles sweep Plainsmen

Hunter said. “We knew we would have an opportunity to turn the guy and obviously he did that and got the pin.”

Gavin Peitzmeier, redshirt sophomore of Omaha, and Terry Winstead, redshirt junior of Harrah, Oklahoma, pinned the same wrestler, Austin Garcia, freshman of Sterling, Colorado, in their heavyweight exhibition matches. Peitzmeier pinned Garcia in 1:28 and Winstead

Ethan Leake, redshirt sophomore of Clois, California, was the first match up of the night in the 141-weight class exhibition against Kross Pollacia, freshman of Evergreen, Colorado, who he pinned just shy of two

Hunter said that people want excitement during duals, they want our guys trying to score points and overall, the wrestlers did that.

Eli Hinojosa, redshirt junior of Imperial, earned 10 points by the end of the first period with five take downs during the 197-weight class. He continued building the point gap with two more take downs in the second period along with a reversal and a take down in the third. Hinojosa finished out his match with a point for riding time and had a major decision win over Kordell Culhane, freshman of Fort Collins, Colorado, 19-7.

Chance Bockenstedt, freshman of Polk, Iowa, made his debut as an Eagle in the 149-pound weight class against Riley Bornhoft, freshman of Sterling, Colorado, and took his first college match with a major

10 Nov. 4, 2021 | The Eagle | csceagle.com Comics

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Ag Range&

Photo by Kamryn Kozisek An American Robin rests on a tree branch near Briggs Pond at the Harold and LaVerne Thompson Natural History Preserve, Tuesday.

Photo by Kamryn Kozisek A Gray Catbird holds a berry in its mouth near Briggs Pond at the Harold and LaVerne Thompson Natural History Preserve, Tuesday.

Photo by Kamryn Kozisek A Plumbeous Vireo sits on a branch near Briggs Pond at the Harold and LaVerne Thompson Natural History Preserve, Tuesday.

Bird migrations in full swing

u By Kamryn Kozisek

Ag and Range Editor

As winter approaches, the start of migration season begins for some of Nebraska’s bird species.

Over 40% of the world’s birds migrate, with the Northern Hemisphere containing the majority of them.

North America is split into four migration flyways used by birds, including the Pacific, Central, Mississippi and Atlantic. Nebraska falls into the Central.

When bird migrations start is not always predictable, but the drivers are believed to be lower temperatures, food supply deficiencies and genetic push, according to Cornell Lab.

Bird migrations can be split into three categories short, medium and long distance.

Short distance includes the changing of elevations based on season and medium distance includes migrations that are a hundreds of miles. Long distance migrations often cover entire countries, like the Whooping Crane migration from Texas to Canada, according to Cornell Lab.

Some bird species do not migrate, according to the Alberta Institute for Wildlife Conservation, including scavenging prey bird, woodpeckers, owls, game birds, tits, chickadees and corvids, with exceptions within each group.

According to Nebraska Ornithology Union, there are 465 species of birds in Nebraska, 334 of which occur in Dawes County.

Millions of birds will stop in ‘bottleneck’ of the Central Flyway, which includes Nebraska during migratory seasons.

Waterfowl species such as the Whooping Crane, Sandhill Crane, Canada Goose, Trumpeter Swans, Hooded Merganser and Bufflehead, travel the Central Flyway each year, using Nebraska’s wetlands as stopping points, according to Nebraska Audubon Society.

Small bird species, like the Gray Catbird, Plumbeous and some American Robins use Nebraska as breeding grounds and migrate between other states.

Although some bird species like shorebirds began migrating in July. Hawks and warblers begin migrating in September and October through Nebraska. Waterfowl like Snow Geese and loons, Bald Eagles, gulls, winter finches like Evening Grosbeak and Common Redpoll and American Tree Sparrows began migrating through Nebraska .