Northern Australian cattle avoid the puberty blues
Northern Australian cattle avoid the puberty blues - Beef CRC - Beef Genetic Technologies
| 21 July 2008 |
 Groundbreaking research through the Beef CRC is aimed at improving the reproductive performance of cattle to increase the profitability of the northern Australian beef industry.Dr Rachel Hawken, CSIRO Livestock Industries is leading a team of researchers trying to identify gene markers which control age of puberty and post-partum anoestrus in tropically adapted cattle. “One of the biggest inefficiencies in the northern beef industry is the fact that many cattle, and Brahmans in particular, don’t have a calf every year. It will be a big help to industry if we can find the genes which control that,” she said. Funded by the Beef CRC, Meat & Livestock Australia, CSIRO and the Queensland Government, the project could add millions of dollars to the value of the beef industry through increased branding and weaning rates. Beef CRC scientists are aiming to develop a DNA-based selection tool so producers can genetically test their herds to find those heifers which mature more rapidly and can conceive calves earlier. A handful of DNA tests closely associated with age of puberty have already been discovered. “To date we’ve found about 10 markers that have the same effect in both Brahman and Tropical Composites,” Dr Hawken said. “But we still have to validate them in an unrelated cattle population to gain a better understanding of their accuracy and their value to industry.” Dr Hawken believes these markers could represent the first DNA tests to be commercialised for age at puberty in the world. “However, before we release these DNA tests to industry we have to be certain that reducing the age of puberty will not compromise the cow or the calf’s survival or the future breeding ability of the animal," she said. "This project aims to improve the lifetime reproductive performance of the animal, not just one year in isolation." |
| For further information, contact Alison Buchanan, Communications Manager, (02) 6773 3795 or 0439 405 077 |
