Sheep breeders are utilising DNA testing like never before due to falls in the cost of the technology and recognition of the return on investment in their flocks. According to the Sheep CRC, there were more than 24,000 genotyping tests and just under 75,000 parentage tests analysed in 2018. There has also been a rapid rise in the use of Tissue Sampling Units to collect DNA samples for analysis replacing the older and more expensive blood cards. In 2013 when sheep DNA testing became commercially available it was $50 + GST per genomic test but has steadily fallen. The same test in early 2018 was $35+GST but in July it fell further to $27+GST for samples collected using a TSU and $30+GST when collected on a blood card. Sheep CRC chief executive officer James Rowe said it marked a “ major turning point in the economics and practicality of DNA testing”. “Sales since then have rapidly increased as sheep breeders have recognised the returns on investment available to them from the information obtained from genomic testing,” he said. “More than 17,000 of the 15K Sheep Genomic tests were sold in the second half of last year after the price reduction, with more than 95pc of those samples collected using TSUs. Prof Rowe said TSUs contained the DNA sample in a form that was much easier to analyse and were more efficient to handle. He said the lower price of the 15k Genomic tests made them more appealing to breeders who had only used the parentage test in the past - the 15k test provides significantly more genomic information while still providing all of the parentage and horn-poll information.