Northern beef producers will be able to learn about progress in the development of automated phenotyping technologies including the accurate detection of calving date during a webinar next Wednesday, May 20.
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The webinar is being hosted by CQUniversity and will feature presentations from Nick Corbet and Dr Lauren O'Connor from CQU and beef producer Swin Hudson, Tremere, Moura, who is hosting technology trials on his property.
The 5-year MLA Donor Company funded project is an initiative of the Central Queensland Livestock Centre of Excellence which also includes AgForce and Qld Department of Agriculture.
The collaboration is aiming to increase the collection of objective genetic data in the northern beef herd.
Further genetic improvement in northern Australian beef herds requires more cattle to have more accurate, more frequent and more reliable performance measurements.
Now in its second year, the CQUniversity research team has enhanced its DataMuster software system which analyses data captured on paddock-based walk-over-weigh scales to now present accurate estimations of date of birth - a vital component for breeders seeking to evaluate growth rates and maternal intervals.
Testing of the system has now expanded from Belmont Research Station to include trials on commercial breeding operations across Central Queensland.
"This project is playing an important role in developing and showcasing new technology for recording objective breeding measurements," CQUniversity's Professor Dave Swain said.
"This project consolidates a range of technologies, algorithms and data management systems that have the potential to be used to automatically record cattle performance.
"We're confident it will provide benefits to the wider industry by lifting the number of cattle that contribute to a broader reference population available for genomic evaluation and thereby lift the accuracy of estimated breeding values.
"Under normal circumstances we would welcome producers from across the region to inspect the technology in person at a field day at Belmont Research Station but under the current travel restrictions we're going to do the next best thing and connect with industry via Zoom."
The webinar will start at noon (AEST).
Producers can register to attend at: https://cqu.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_X_kW2B-DTb2ipbDZtBxPzQ
