THE ADVANCED GENOMIC TOOL TO INFORM THE SELECTION OF REPLACEMENT HEIFERS FOR COMMERCIAL AUSTRALIAN ANGUS BREEDERS.

Effective selection of replacement females is one of the most challenging aspects of commercial cow-calf production. Producers must decide whether a given heifer can be a productive and profitable breeding female before she has had an opportunity to express productivity associated with profitability, including fertility, calving ease, milking ability, growth and mature size. This makes it critical for producers to select and develop the right replacement heifers—and consistently mate them to complementary sires—to optimise profitability.

GENETICS – THE FUNDAMENTAL BUILDING BLOCK

Herds with a superior genetic profile have a fundamental advantage over other herds and will outperform their contemporaries over their lifetime. It is in their DNA. Effective selection of replacement females is one of the most challenging aspects of commercial cow-calf production.

Producers must decide whether a given heifer can be a productive and profitable breeding female before she has had an opportunity to express productivity associated with profitability, including fertility, calving ease, milking ability, growth and mature size. This makes it critical for producers to select and develop the right replacement heifers – and consistently mate them to complementary sires - to optimise profitability.

The choice for commercial producers is not: optimise nutrition and animal health OR optimise genetics

The choice for commercial producers is: optimise nutrition and animal health AND optimise genetics

ANGUS HeiferSELECT™

Angus HeiferSELECT™ is a genomic selection tool to help inform the selection of Angus replacement heifers in a commercial breeding operation. It has been created in collaboration between Angus Australia and Zoetis, the global leading genomic testing service organisation.

Angus HeiferSELECT™ provides genetic predictions, including:

• Total Breeding Value
• Nine (9) important maternal, growth and carcase traits
• DNA sire identification to a sire registered with Angus Australia (where sire genotype is available)
• Angus HeiferSELECT™ Star Rating for easy interpretation

The test results are based on genomic predictions coupled with Angus BREEDPLAN EBV information of known relatives.

EASY TO UNDERSTAND REPORTS

• Angus HeiferSELECT results are provided via the online reporting tool AngusTech (https://www.angusaustralia.com.au/breeding/animal-selection/angus-heiferselect/)  
• Traits results are provided using an intuitive 1 to 100 scoring system ranks animals on their overall genetic potential for the traits listed below.
• Higher values are generally better, with a score of 50 representing the average genetic merit of commercial Angus heifers tested with the Angus HeiferSELECT™ product.
• An overall star rating system and Total Breeding Value Index provides an easy way to rank and compare animals

THE ZOETIS DIFFERENCE

 Zoetis provides comprehensive solutions for beef producers

• Our genetic services go way beyond the lab
• Zoetis offers unrivalled customer service and advice and is backed by over 30 local Zoetis representatives including dedicated genetics specialists and our genetics customer service centre
• Size and global scale provides a wealth of global knowledge
• 17 staff Ph.D. geneticists driving cutting edge research and development
• Unmatched technical support and customer service
• Products and expert advice for vaccines, medicines, diagnostic tools and services