The BREEDPLAN genetic evaluation produces EBVs for a range of economically important traits and is the world’s most widely used genetic evaluation service for beef cattle. The first BREEDPLAN evaluation was published in 1985.
BREEDPLAN is constantly evolving to incorporate the latest technology and meet the needs of the beef industry:
- EBVs are now calculated for a wide range of traits.
- Profit-based selection indexes are available for many BREEDPLAN analyses.
- A number of BREEDPLAN analyses now incorporate DNA information.
The majority of BREEDPLAN analyses are conducted for beef breed societies. Members of these breed societies have the option to record information to be included in the relevant BREEDPLAN analysis.
International BREEDPLAN evaluations are common. This occurs where breed societies from a number of countries opt to pool their data for analysis (e.g. TransTasman BREEDPLAN analyses).
Some cattle producers opt to engage BREEDPLAN outside of the breed society structure. These may include pastoral companies or cattle that do not fit breed society regulations e.g. composite and/or crossbred herds.
