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Livestock – Genetics and Breeding

Jan 07 2024

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AgTech is revolutionising animal breeding systems by taking the guesswork out of the complex processes that drive genetic improvement.

Whether your priority is increased production, parasite and disease resistance, fertility, resilience to climate stresses or all of the above, there are a wide variety of AgTech solutions available.

AgTech for genetics and breeding purposes offers producers greater confidence in the animals you breed, and that future generations of livestock and poultry are highly productive, resilient, healthy and well-adapted to our changing climates.

Various technologies have already resulted in significant economic gains in beef, lamb, wool, milk, pork, egg and chicken production across Australia. Using these innovations, producers of livestock and poultry are able to:

• Track desirable traits such as parasite and disease resistance and climate resilience at a herd level, via wearable and implantable animal tags and performance monitoring tools.
• Calculate Estimated Breeding Values (EBVs) using data from herd-based management systems and remote surveillance.
• Predict and influence next generation traits using genomics.
• Identify the best times to inseminate by monitoring heat and ovulation.
• Increase embryo fertilisation rates with improved equipment and storage for artificial insemination or embryo transfer.
• Reduce mortality rates in hatchlings and livestock.