Tropical Beef Technology Services

Summary

The sixth iteration of the Tropical Beef Technology Services (TBTS) project, which commenced on 1 July 2016, was a joint initiative between Meat and Livestock Australia (MLA), the Agricultural Business Research Institute (ABRI), Queensland Government’s Department of Agriculture (DAF) and seven breed associations representing tropical cattle breeds that are predominantly run in Northern Australia.

The TBTS project has been running since August 1997, with the aim of delivering a range of innovative extension services and technical support to maximise the use and understanding of BREEDPLAN and related genetic technologies in the Northern Australian beef industry. This TBTS project commenced with one FTE (Paul Williams), however in February 2017 Tim Emery joined TBTS for the remainder of the project on secondment from DAF.

The project has a goal of achieving a $10 increase in the weighted average selection index for the stakeholder breeds by the 2019 calving year.
This project is building on the results of several research projects which have demonstrated the wide variation and relatively high heritability of fertility in tropical breeds. The utilisation of genomic measures of fertility will assist breeders to make genetic progress for fertility. The TBTS project continues to provide technical services and data collection advice for the Northern industry and research projects. Additionally, as detailed in the Project’s Operational Plan, the upskilling of commercial producers about BREEDPLAN and related technologies has been a major focus, particularly for Tim Emery. To enable this to occur, resources have been utilised for speaking at and/or attending industry events, establishing networks, and providing ongoing engagement with industry.

Objectives

The objectives of the TBTS project were:
1. Develop and undertake extension initiatives for the Northern Australia seedstock sector based on the availability of genomics tests for fertility in the Brahman breed, the outcomes of the Brahman BIN project and the “Enabling Genetic Improvement in Tropical Breed Cattle” project.
2. Provide support to Beef Information Nucleus (BIN) projects in Northern Australia. This includes overseeing data collection, formatting and submission to the appropriate breed association and BREEDPLAN to ensure data integrity and quality.
3. Undertake extension activities and provide technical support to implement both new and existing BREEDPLAN related technologies in Northern Australia seedstock herds e.g. BREEDPLAN EBVs, Internet Solutions, BreedObject Selection Indexes, TakeStock®, Data Quality Herd Audit, Marker Assisted EBVs, Mate Selection tools and Completeness of Performance.
4. Undertake extension initiatives to inform the seedstock and beef breeding industry in general on the relevance and application of genomics technology for accelerating genetic progress in economically important production traits.
5. Maintain and support the Selection Indexes published by stakeholder breed associations to ensure they remain relevant to current and future markets and production systems. Manage the introduction and impacts of Version 6.2 of BreedObject. Where possible, also develop and publish Selection Indexes for stakeholder breed associations not currently doing so.

Key findings

TBTS personnel collectively delivered 152 face-to-face presentations to 5,236 attendees during the project. One hundred and ten individual seedstock properties were visited, along with 123 commercial operations. TBTS staff have also written numerous articles, delivered webinars and contributed to educational videos.

The three year rolling average of the weighted selection index for the stakeholder breeds averaged $0.75 per cow mated for the 2016 calving year before rising to $0.98 for the 2017 born animals. Subsequently the three year rolling average increased to $0.95 for the three years to 2018, increased to $1.69 for the three years to 2019 and $2.52 for the three years to 2020.

Benefits to industry

Genetic improvement in the seedstock sector, which has been successfully facilitated by the TBTS project, has significant flow-on effects for the whole beef value chain. New technologies, such as genomically enhanced breeding values and revised BreedObject selection indexes, enhance the ability for commercial producers to have the opportunity to select more bulls that are genetically superior; in turn, this will produce better commercial progeny for the feedlot and processor components of industry. Upskilling commercial producers to better understand EBVs and practically apply them in their businesses, has contributed to more informed, objective decision making and improvements in productivity and profitability.

Future research

With beef genetics an evolving and technical complex space, a strong requirement exists for extension projects that provide a seamless transfer of information between the research and technical operations of the BREEDPLAN genetic evaluations, and those who use genetic improvement technologies in their herds. Thus, the ongoing support of an efficient and effective national extension and technical support network for the Australian beef industry should be prioritised. This would enable the continued utilisation of genetic technologies, and associated rates of genetic improvement, which would lead to significant flow-on benefits for the entire beef supply chain.