Breed Development
From the Angus BREEDPLAN Desk Ashleigh Horne, Project Officer, Angus BREEDPLAN
In the midst of the eastern bull sale season, Angus BREEDPLAN has been extremely busy with our fortnightly BREEDPLAN analyses, just as one analysis finishes, the next analysis kicks off. The never-ending hamster wheel that is Angus BREEDPLAN just keeps on turning.
Recording Small Herds in Angus BREEDPLAN
During recent times, Angus Australia has fielded several phone calls from both new and existing members who are excited about the possibilities that EBVs and selection indexes provide. However, their herds are small, and they are questioning whether BREEDPLAN can work for them. The simple answer is yes, breeders with small herds can certainly be involved in Angus BREEDPLAN, and can have EBVs that are both informative and effective at estimating an animal’s genetic merit. The important point to remember is that breeders must be sure to manage their animals in a way that will include as many animals in each contemporary group as possible. Calves will be analysed in the same contemporary group if: • They were bred in the same herd • Are of the same sex • Are of the same birth number (i.e. Twins are not compared with single calves) • Are of the same birth status (e.g. ET calves are not compared with AI/natural calves) • Were born in the same calving year • Were born within 45 days of each other (for birth and 200 day weight) • Were born within 60 days of each other (for 400 and 600 day weight) • Have performance measured on the same day (and have the same measurement history) • Have been run under the same conditions This seems like a large list, but if small herds ensure that there are at least two animals that meet the above criteria, their performance records can be analysed effectively by Angus BREEDPLAN.
NDE
How many animals need to be in each contemporary group? As shown below, the effectiveness of an individual’s performance record increases as more animals are represented within each contemporary group. A single animal contemporary group is not effective, however a contemporary group with two animals will immediately jump to a 50% record effectiveness, while a contemporary group with 5 animals will have an 80% record effectiveness. After 5 to 10 animals are represented within each group, the increase in effectiveness for each additional animal decreases rapidly with increasing group size.
Contemporary Group Size
Record Effectiveness
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
0% 50 % 67 % 75 % 80 % 83 % 86 % 88 % 89 % 90 %
This graph clearly shows that a breeder doesn’t need huge contemporary groups to have effective data in Angus BREEDPLAN and even small herds can generate effective EBVs and Selection Indexes.
VERTICAL CUTTER / MIXER / FEEDERS
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EASTERN SPREADERS PTY LTD KERANG, Vic. 3579 Ph: 03 5450 3077 Fax: 03 5452 2633
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Angus Bulletin — winter 2017