As facial eczema (FE) becomes increasingly common in the Top of the South Island, a fourth-generation farmer from Waikato is urging others to take action now by making changes to their flocks and help reduce the long-term impact of the disease.
Alastair Reeves says that understanding that facial eczema is caused by animals grazing on pasture containing the fungal toxin sporidesmin—which attacks the animal’s bile duct and liver—is key. He believes this highlights the importance of investing in rams that are genetically tolerant to the toxin, making the case for why shifting to facial eczema-tolerant genetics is essential for building stronger, more resilient animals and more profitable businesses.
“We need to understand that it takes years to build eczema-tolerant flocks. That’s why farmers must start now,” says Alastair of Waimai Romney Stud located in the West Coast of Waikato, north of Raglan Harbour in the Te Akau district.
“Every year you use FE-tolerant rams, you increase the percentage of your flock tolerant to this disease. The heritability of facial eczema tolerance in sheep is high, with estimates around 0.44 to 0.45.”
Alastair says this means that about 44 to 45 percent of the variation in how well individual sheep tolerate facial eczema can be explained by their genetic makeup.
In practical terms, he says, this suggests that selective breeding—choosing rams and ewes that show better tolerance—can significantly improve the overall resilience of a flock to facial eczema over time.
Alastair has been working extensively in the field of breeding genetically selected Romney rams with high production traits, facial eczema tolerance, worm resistance, and lower methane. It’s a legacy project—one that Alastair has carried on from his father, John Reeves, with Waimai Romney focusing on producing Low Input, High Profit genetics.
“Dad loved farming and was very passionate about it, and especially about genetics and all its challenges,” Alastair says.
“He had absolute confidence in himself and self-belief that what he was doing was right, and selecting for eczema tolerance would one day benefit the wider farming community. This self-belief was imperative as he went down a genetic pathway focusing on eczema tolerance, while most of his contemporaries went down another pathway, and thought that John was a bloody idiot.”
“Forty years later, John has proved the doubters that he was right, and the rest were wrong,” Alastair adds. “And now, the opportunity exists for farmers to make genetic choices that will benefit not just their operations today, but their future farming selves—and the next generation.”
Facial eczema is a significant problem because it affects cloven-hoofed animals—including cows, deer, and sheep—and causes liver damage, leading to poor performance such as reduced growth rates, lower milk or meat yields, decreased fertility, and compromised wool quality.
An interesting point is that a ram with facial eczema resistance genetics doesn’t necessarily have to cost more than one without that resistance.
“Farmers need to think long-term about animal health and productivity. Forty years ago, my father didn’t have the option to choose eczema tolerant rams, but farmers today have that opportunity. Farmers can’t choose the weather and can’t choose market prices—but they can choose the genetics they purchase,” Alastair says.
