The costs of footrot and the impact of the footrot gene-marker test in New Zealand : a report to the Sustainable Farming Fund

Abstract

The Footrot Gene-marker Test (FGMT) programme has been funded by contributions from the Sustainable Farming Fund and the merino and mid-micron sheep industries to develop a tool for selecting footrot tolerant breeding animals. The research that is the subject of this paper has been conducted to calculate the costs of footrot to those industries and, therefore, the potential benefits from the FGMT programme, and to provide early estimates of the benefits that have been realised to date. It has also examined the level of understanding of the programme in the industry and, therefore, the success of the technology transfer element of the programme.