is an online genetic selection aid for breeders, buyers,
and sellers of beef seedstock that interfaces with BREEDPLAN. It
assists the targeting of beef breeding programs by calculating the
optimum mix of EBVs for any given situation. The program is designed
for stud and commercial breeders and anyone else making selection
decisions to improve the quality and accuracy of those decisions. It
provides a simple and effective way for breeders to represent their
seedstock to the commercial industry through the creation of indexes
that are tailored to specific markets.
In the BreedObject
program, the available BREEDPLAN EBVs on a line of animals are given
economic weightings. These are generally customised for each user and
situation, eg for a breed society or an individual bull buyer. The
weighted EBVs are combined into a single EBV, the $INDEX, which is the
best estimate of the animal's contribution towards a particular
breeding objective eg producing feeder steers. In this way, a group of
animals (sale bulls for example) can be ranked for a variety of uses.
BreedObject can deliver:
- Ranking of bulls for selection in seedstock herds
- Ranking of sale bulls of seedstock herds, for different purposes, as a service to clients
- Bull buyers ranking available sale bulls
- Selection among potential AI sires
- Assessing trait importance for different production environments and markets
- Managing
genetic trade-offs (eg growth vs. calving ease, meat yield percentage
vs. marbling, growth vs. mature cow size, fertility vs. carcase)
- Breeds and/or breeders identifying potentially elite young sires for further testing
- Gaining an indication of the differences in price justified between bulls
BREEDOBJECT Homepage
