Breeding for Poll in AACo: Modelling to implementation.

Breeding herds with an increasing proportion of polled animals is highly topical in the Australian beef industry. Producer and public concerns surrounding dehorning mean that actively selecting for polled is an attractive option. However, balancing selection for polled with other traits and maintaining genetic diversity within a herd is challenging. Therefore, it is essential that the implications of integrating polled into an existing breeding program be considered (as accurately as possible), and as part of designing and implementing a breeding program.

In a collaboration between Australian Agricultural Company and the University of Queensland, this project has created a highly accurate ‘digital twin’ of AACo’s seedstock breeding program. This ‘twin’ allows for the optimization of the breeding program to find the most effective pathway to a polled herd. The key part of the digital twin is the use of the genomic Simulation software which uses real genotypes to simulate offspring, this allows realistic breeding values and inbreeding to be calculated for multiple generations.

The project has sought to answer questions such as:
• What is the optimal blend of natural service, artificial insemination and embryo transfer in a breeding program?
• How much selection pressure can be applied for polled without compromising genetic gain for other traits?

In this BeefConnect recording, join Matthew Kelly (Principal Scientist – AACo) and James Copley (Quantitative Geneticist – AACo) when they discuss:
1. Breeding for poll in practice and its challenges:
o Managing animal performance and polled.
o Managing genetic diversity and polled.
o Impact of scurs.
2. How to use the digital twin to drive better decision-making:
o Predicting the rate of genetic gain for polled and other traits.
o Examining the level of inbreeding under different selection scenarios.
o Industry applications of the digital twin.