Setting a breeding objective
Meat & Livestock Australia December 20, 2023
To make genetic gain, you need to understand where you are currently, and where you want to be, for the key traits driving profit and production for both you and your clients.
By setting a breeding objective, you are setting goals to achieve improvement in your flock’s performance in a specific timeframe. You need to understand what your current (and future clients) will be looking for when purchasing rams.
It is important that your breeding objective is SMART (Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant, and Time base). This will allow you to track your progress and devise the best strategy to achieve your goal.
When setting your breeding objective, it is beneficial to assess how quickly you are able to create genetic improvement in your flock. Consider the traits which you are wanting to improve and the importance of each of those traits to determine primary and secondary breeding traits within your larger breeding objective. It is also key to consider your classing criteria – there is no point keeping animals which have high genetic merit if they cannot walk, eat, and reproduce!
Take a moment to consider the breeding objective of you and your clients.
Setting a breeding objective:
- Identify the traits that are important to your breeding program. These traits will be those related to profit drivers, risk and disease management.
- Match these production traits to the relevant ASBV traits. For example, if early growth is an important production trait, post-weaning weight (PWT) may be the relevant ASBV. And for wool cut, yearling clean fleece weight (YCFW) may be most relevant.
- Identify where your flock currently sits (using Genetic Trend reports)
- Consider the merit of the animals you currently have on hand and compare your current position to the relevant Percentile Report.
- Set a goal for how you would like to see your flock performing. Please specify this target as a desired ASBV, or goal within the percentile bands. E.g. flock average with a yearling weight (YWT) ASBV of 10.2, or whole flock within the top 40% of industry for YWT.
- Provide a relevant timeframe in which you hope to achieve the specified target.
- Make sure you are recording the trait as directly as possible so that you can track your progress. For example, if you are interested in reducing birth weight, make sure you are directly recording birth weight (BWT), rather than relying on related traits.