Genetic evaluation for the beef industry in Australia

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Contents Vol 45(8)

doi:10.1071/EA05075

Genetic evaluation for the beef industry in Australia

H-U. Graser ^A ^B, B. Tier ^A, D. J. Johnston ^A, S. A. Barwick ^A

^A Animal Genetics and Breeding Unit (a joint venture of NSW Department of Primary Industries and The University of New England), The University of New England, Armidale, NSW 2351, Australia.
^B Corresponding author. Email: hgraser@une.edu.au





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Australian Journal of Experimental Agriculture 45(8) 913–921 http://dx.doi.org/10.1071/EA05075
Submitted: 15 March 2005 Accepted: 3 June 2005 Published online: 26 August 2005

Abstract

Genetic evaluation for beef cattle in Australia has been performed using an animal model with best linear unbiased prediction since 1984. The evaluation procedures have evolved from simple to more complex models and from few to a large number of traits, including traits for reproduction, growth and carcass characteristics. This paper describes in detail the current beef cattle genetic evaluation system ‘BREEDPLAN’ used for the Australian beef cattle industry, the traits analysed and underlying models, and presents a short overview of the challenges and planned developments of coming years.

Keywords: carcass, growth, phenotypes, reproduction, selection indexes.