BREEDPLAN set to become even better
BREEDPLAN set to become even better - Beef CRC - Beef Genetic Technologies
| 21 December 2009 |
 Australia’s own unique beef genetic evaluation scheme, BREEDPLAN is set to become even more important in future, as it is used as a vehicle to deliver DNA information to the Australian beef industry.For the past 30 years, Australian beef producers have used BREEDPLAN Estimated Breeding Values (EBVs) to accelerate genetic progress, tighten up breeding operations, improve productivity and increase prices for cattle sold for breeding and slaughter. But Beef CRC Chief Scientist Professor Mike Goddard said the inclusion of DNA information in BREEDPLAN will further enhance the system and provide producers with even more information by which to select sires. “There was a time when we thought that producers would simply DNA test their cattle and then use that information to determine the best way to manage their stock,” said Professor Goddard. “But now that we’re looking for hundreds, if not thousands, of markers for each trait, that scenario is looking less realistic.” Professor Goddard says rather than ‘a’ gene test, what producers will see is a calculation based on the extensive genetic information from DNA markers that provides an accurate prediction of breeding value for important traits. “Producers won’t be seeing ‘a’ marker for female fertility for example. They’ll probably see a prediction of breeding value based on a large panel of markers,” he said. While EBVs are already used to record information on an animal’s performance for traits such as marbling, net feed intake (NFI) and fertility, the new-style genetic markers will incorporate this information with genome-wide genetic predictions and phenotype information collected by producers. This will give cattle breeders the most accurate genetic evaluations of their cattle possible. Professor Goddard said the Beef CRC proposes that predictions of breeding value from genetic markers, once extensively evaluated in cattle populations, will be fed directly into BREEDPLAN to generate an EBV that seamlessly incorporates DNA information with performance data. He said it has already been tested with the development of trial shear force EBVs known as marker-assisted EBVs (EBVm) for Tenderness which were launched for the Brahman breed in 2008. “Research tells us that meat tenderness is the most prized attribute among consumers. But previously we haven’t had a combined measure of whether an animal will produce tough or tender meat,” said Professor Goddard. “The EBVm for Tenderness combines pedigree, measured performance of meat tenderness and correlated traits such as flight time with GeneSTAR™ DNA marker information to create the BREEDPLAN EBVm for Tenderness, which can then help produce genetically superior animals for tenderness.” Professor Goddard said incorporating DNA markers into BREEDPLAN EBVs will take some of the confusion out of which animals to select. “Producers won’t have to worry about DNA markers at all. They’ll just select animals with the EBVs they think are most appropriate to their own breeding objectives,” he said. |
| For further information contact Margaret Puls, Acting Communications Manager, Beef CRC, 0419 578 356 |
