More than 100 beef producers, industry members and researchers were updated on at least six cutting-edge projects in Armidale recently.
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This included low-methane beef, benchmarking programs and increasing sustainability through genetic progress.
One of the programs in the spotlight was the Angus Sire Benchmarking Program (ASBP), with Angus Australia's Dr Liam Mowbray leading the discussion.
Dr Mowbray said the objectives of the ASBP included generating progeny test data on modern Angus bulls, particularly for hard-to-measure traits such as feed efficiency, abattoir carcase measurement, meat quality attributes and female reproduction.
He said there were now 11 cohorts of cattle in the program, subject to feed intake and carcase analysis.
This data would be used to construct a comprehensive phenotype and genotype database on Australian Angus for validation, research and development of genomic technology.
Angus Australia's data is drawn from joining an average of 40 sires annually to about 2000 Angus cows to achieve a minimum of 25 progeny (a 50:50 split of steers and heifers) per sire using an artificial insemination program.
Dr Mowbray said ASBP focussed hard on measuring traits that, to date, had included 465 Angus sires with 11,321 comprehensively measured progeny that included 112,996 phenotypes.
He said the 625 animals in cohort 11 were just about to be processed, which would take place at John Dee Abattoir, Warwick, Qld, and then the carcases would be returned to the UNE meat science laboratories for analysis.
The average carcase weight of the animals in the cohort was 483 kilograms, and the average eye muscle area was 91 square centimetres, with a 3.5 marble score average. The top weight was 558kg with an EMA of 132sq cm.
He said the cohort 11 reports, which would include the adjusted carcase data, would be available late December.
The Angus cows used in the program were located across a number of commercial cooperator herds spanning northern to southern NSW and Victoria.