Lamb Checkoff Research: Investing in a Stronger, More Competitive American Lamb Industry
October 24, 2026
Building a stronger American Lamb industry requires more than increasing consumer demand. It also means helping U.S. sheep producers improve productivity, manage costs, enhance lamb quality and increase domestic production to meet growing market opportunities.
Research is an important part of the American Lamb Board's (ALB) strategy to strengthen the industry. Through the national Lamb Checkoff program, ALB invests industry dollars in science-based research that addresses production challenges, advances innovation and develops practical tools that benefit sheep producers across the country.
Research Priorities Focused on Industry Growth
ALB's research investments are guided by priorities that support the long-term profitability, productivity and competitiveness of the U.S. sheep industry:
- Improving productivity and efficiency: Identifying management practices, technologies and nutrition strategies that increase production while managing costs.
- Advancing genetic improvement: Developing tools to help producers select sheep for economically important traits, including growth, health, survival and carcass quality.
- Strengthening animal health: Finding practical solutions to reduce disease, parasite challenges and production losses.
- Enhancing lamb quality and consistency: Connecting production and breeding decisions to carcass performance and market expectations for high-quality American Lamb.
- Supporting long-term sustainability: Helping producers use resources efficiently, improve profitability and adapt to emerging production opportunities.
Four Lamb Checkoff-funded research projects currently underway demonstrate how these priorities are being put into action.
Breeding Healthier, More Resilient Sheep
West Virginia University | Dr. Scott Bowdridge
What if producers could select breeding stock based on their natural ability to resist disease?
Researchers at West Virginia University are collecting antibody profiles from Katahdin, Polypay, Targhee, Rambouillet and Suffolk sheep to determine whether immune response can be predicted through genetics.
The ultimate goal is to develop a new estimated breeding value (EBV) for immune competence that could be incorporated into the National Sheep Improvement Program (NSIP).
This research could provide producers with another valuable genetic selection tool, helping them breed healthier, more resilient sheep, improve lamb survival, reduce disease-related losses and increase flock profitability.
Connecting Genetics to Carcass Quality and Value
University of Idaho | Dr. Brenda Murdoch and Superior Farms / Karissa Isaacs
Improving the consistency and value of American Lamb begins with understanding how breeding decisions influence the final product.
University of Idaho researchers are connecting genetic information from breeding rams with the growth performance and carcass characteristics of their offspring. By tracking lambs from commercial production through feeding and harvest, the team aims to identify genetic markers associated with desirable carcass traits and saleable meat yield.
The project also demonstrates how DNA parentage testing, electronic identification and carcass grading technologies can work together to provide meaningful information about breeding stock performance.
Results could help seedstock and commercial producers make more informed genetic selection decisions, improve carcass quality and support future value-based marketing opportunities that reward high-performing lambs.
Exploring Cost-Effective Nutrition for Pregnant Ewes
South Dakota State University | Dr. Manuel Vasquez-Hidalgo
Feed is one of the largest expenses in sheep production, making efficient nutrition strategies essential to profitability.
Researchers at South Dakota State University are evaluating whether soybean hulls, a byproduct of soybean processing, can partially or completely replace grass hay in pregnant ewe diets without compromising ewe health or lamb performance.
The study examines how these feeding strategies influence fetal development, lamb birth and weaning weights, colostrum quality and immune development.
By identifying alternative feed options that support healthy ewes and productive lambs, this research could give producers greater flexibility in managing feed costs while maintaining flock performance.
Developing New Tools for Parasite Management
Texas A&M AgriLife | Dr. Jake Thorne
Internal parasites remain a significant challenge to sheep health and profitability, particularly in pasture-based production systems where resistance to conventional dewormers is a growing concern.
Researchers at Texas A&M AgriLife are evaluating two alternative parasite management tools that could help producers protect flock health while reducing reliance on traditional deworming treatments.
The first study examines whether BioWorma, a product containing a naturally occurring fungus that traps parasite larvae, can be effectively delivered through free-choice mineral supplements to reduce parasite exposure in ewes and young lambs.
The second investigates how different sheep breeds absorb and retain copper from copper oxide wire particle boluses, providing information to guide their safer, more effective use in parasite management.
Together, these studies could lead to practical recommendations that reduce parasite-related losses, improve flock health and support expanding pasture-based production opportunities.
Turning Research into Results for Producers
Although these projects address different production challenges, they share a common goal: delivering practical information and tools that help American sheep producers become more productive, efficient and profitable.
The benefits of these investments extend beyond individual operations. Better genetic selection can improve flock performance for generations. More efficient nutrition strategies can help control costs. Improved animal health can reduce production losses. And stronger connections between genetics and carcass quality can help the industry consistently deliver the premium American Lamb products consumers and customers expect.
Research also plays a critical role in ALB's broader strategy to strengthen domestic lamb production. As demand for American Lamb creates new market opportunities, improving production efficiency and profitability will be essential to helping existing producers grow and encouraging new producers to enter the industry.
“Research is a critical investment in the future of our industry,” said David Fisher, chairman of the American Lamb Board. “By supporting projects that address the challenges producers face every day—from animal health and nutrition to meat quality and production efficiency—we are helping create opportunities for stronger, more profitable sheep operations. Our goal is to ensure these investments deliver practical tools that benefit American lamb producers and help grow domestic production.”
Through strategic research investments, producer education and industry collaboration, the Lamb Checkoff is working to build a stronger, more productive and more competitive future for American Lamb.
Source: ALB
