Research
Read about the work done by master's student Dillan Henslee (graduated Dec. 2019) at the U.S. Sheep Experiment Station where we identified rams as having variable responses to a bitter-tasting compound, which suggests that sheep have similar differences in taste-preferences to those we see in humans (for example, do you like the taste of cilantro?). The next steps are to determine if there is a genetic component to that, which we think that there is. This could translate into selection for sheep that will eat different types of plants more readily.
Dillan Henslee, Joel Yelich, J Bret Taylor, Melinda Ellison (December 2019). Aversion to phenylthiocarbamide in mature Targhee and Rambouillet rams. Translational Animal Science, pages 1749–1753, .
Overgrowth of sagebrush in the western United States can lead to a reduction in plant diversity, carrying capacity and wildlife abundance (Launchbaugh, 2003). Suppression of sagebrush with grazing sheep may be a sustainable method of control. The dietary preference for sagebrush in sheep has a calculated heritability of 0.28 (Snowder et al., 2001), suggesting that breeding selection for low-palatable compounds in sheep may be achievable. Ferreira et al. (2013) identified a set of novel genes for bitter taste receptors in sheep, suggesting that sheep may be genetically predisposed to select or avoid plants with bitter or noxious tastes. .