How Mumblebone measures and presents ram data

ASBVs

Australian Sheep Breeding Values (ASBVs) are estimates of an animal's genetic merit for a trait, computed by Sheep Genetics from measured performance data submitted by participating studs. Each ASBV is a number relative to a fixed industry base, paired with an accuracy percentage that reflects how much information underpins the estimate.

We display every trait we record. Where a value is missing, the trait was not measured for that animal at the appropriate age. See the ASBV glossary for what each trait code means and which direction is favourable.

The Mumblebone Index

The Mumblebone Index is our own combined breeding objective. It weights the ASBV traits that matter most for a modern Australian commercial Merino flock and produces a single comparable number for every ram in the catalogue.

Two industry-published companion indexes are also shown for every lot: the Wool Index emphasises fleece value (fibre diameter, clean fleece weight, staple length) and the Carcase Index emphasises body composition (post-weaning weight, eye muscle depth, fat). Together they let buyers compare lots on the same axes year over year.

Performance tier colours

Each ASBV and each index cell is shaded by where the value sits in the industry distribution:

• Top 5%of the industry for that trait or index.
• Top 10%of the industry.
• Top 20%of the industry.

No shading means the value sits outside the top 20% for that trait. A ram does not need top-tier shading on every trait to be a good commercial choice. The tiers are a fast visual filter, not a verdict.

Raw measurement data

Where available, each lot's page also lists raw fleece measurements: micron (μm) for fibre diameter, standard deviation (μm) for variability across the staple, coefficient of variation (%) as a normalised variability measure, and comfort factor (%), the proportion of fibres under 30 μm. These are direct measurements taken on the animal, not breeding value estimates.

Photography and video

Every published lot has at least one photograph. Videos, where available, are published as a single playlist for the sale on YouTube and embedded on each lot's page. Filming is done close to the sale date so the visual record matches what buyers see on inspection day.