Using BREEDPLAN information in animal selection
Meat & Livestock Australia June 7, 2024
The breeding decisions you make today will have a significant impact on the genetic progress and associated profitability of your herd into the future. Profitability is influenced by the number of calves (fertility and calving), the weight of the calves (growth) and the quality of the calves (carcase), less the cost of production. All of these components are influenced by genetics. An individual breeding animal is a long-term investment. In a self-replacing system, a sire’s influence will impact the herd for many years through his daughters and granddaughters. Therefore, it is important to select the most profitable animals for your production system.
BREEDPLAN information should never be used in isolation. Instead, BREEDPLAN information should always be used in conjunction with other selection criteria, including visual assessment.
The BREEDPLAN Best Practice Guide to Animal Selection allows you to select the best genetics for your production system in four easy steps:
- Select the selection index of most relevance
- Rank animals using the chosen selection index
- Consider individual BREEDPLAN EBVs of importance
- Consider other traits of importance