SheepHeatIT

There is a growing need for practical and science-based solutions that help sheep farming adapt to climate change. Rising temperatures and more frequent heat waves are threatening sheep welfare, fertility, productivity, survival, and farmer income, while current mitigation measures often depend on costly infrastructure that is not accessible to all farming systems.

SheepHeatIT is tackling this challenge by developing breeding strategies for sheep with improved resilience to heat stress. The project brings together advanced phenotyping, genotyping, multi-omics research, and data technologies to better understand how different sheep breeds respond to heat across diverse environments.

By building large-scale genotype–phenotype datasets and identifying genetic markers linked to heat resilience, SheepHeatIT will support the development of new selection tools, practical breeding guidelines, and an open-access Information Technology Centre Platform. This approach will help farmers, breeders, and researchers move towards more resilient, productive, and climate-ready sheep farming.