Unlock Smarter Breeding Decisions | MateSel Webinar by Angus Australia

Learn how to use MateSel within angus.tech to build smarter, balanced mating plans.
Hosted by Hanlie Jansen (Extension Officer, Angus Australia) with Sandy Kinghorn (Director/Developer, MateSel) and Prof. Brian Kinghorn (Emeritus Professor of Quantitative Genetics, UNE & original creator of MateSel).

What’s inside

Live walk-through in angus.tech: Where to find MateSel (Tools → MateSel), first-time setup, downloading & installing the app, and launching a run.

Preparing your candidates:
• Upload form structure (case-sensitive, text tab-delimited).
• Include dams/sires, optional mating group IDs, straw counts, and descriptive run notes.
• Females must be in your ownership to proceed.

Hands-on demo in MateSel:
• Setting a selection index and up to 12 trait targets.
• Using mating groups (e.g., heifer vs cow mobs; location-based groups).
• Frontier graph: balancing genetic gain vs long-term diversity.
• Trait histograms: setting mins/maxes and checking index trade-offs.
• Result files returned to angus.tech: Mating List Summary, Mating List Detail (incl. expected progeny EBVs & inbreeding), and the MateSel Analysis Report.

Seedstock use cases:
• Sire scoping & selection.
• ET program planning (e.g., 80 embryos via MoET: setting min/max matings per donor, “must-use” sires, etc.).
• Notes on multi-sire joining & multiple indices for diverse customer goals.

Genetic conditions (markers): How MateSel reports free/carrier/affected outcomes and how to set targets (e.g., max affected = 0).

Q&A highlights:
• Accuracy: EBVs already reflect accuracy; MateSel can also account for it (not currently exposed via angus.tech).
• Scale: ~5,000 total candidates supported in a run (more candidates & matings = slower).
• Grouping logic: e.g., heifer-safe bulls only to heifers; heifer-safe bulls may also be used on cows.
• Genomic relationships (GRM): supported by MateSel; not yet in the angus.tech integration (future roadmap).
• System requirements: Windows only; Mac possible via a parallel/virtualised Windows setup (workarounds discussed).

Tips from the session

If the Search panel isn’t visible in angus.tech, enable Quick Search.

Before uploading, clear extra columns (e.g., highlight from column D across → clear contents) to avoid file corruption.

Keep an eye on index impact after pushing hard on individual trait targets.

Availability & cost

MateSel is free for the 2025 spring season via angus.tech and will move to fee-for-service next year. Make the most of it for spring joinings.

Help & resources

Angus Education Centre module: step-by-step launching, run creation, and how-tos.

https://www.angusaustralia.com.au/edu...

Need a hand? Contact Member Services or the Extension Team and we’ll help you get set up.

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