News & Publications

Presentations and Interviews

Productive Producer Podcast (Feb 16, 2023, featuring Dr Brad Walmsley)

Casino Meatup Forum (December, 2022, slides by Dr Brad Walmsley)

Livestock Genetics Forum (April 2022,  featuring Dr Kath Donoghue)

Journals and Research Papers

Quantifying the linkage between genetics represented in the SMB project and wider beef populations

K.L. Moore, S.F. Walkom, J.P. Siddell and B. Walmsley (2023). Quantifying the linkage between genetics represented in the SMB project and wider beef populations.  Proc. Assoc. Advmt. Anim. Breed. Genet. 25: 330 - 333.

Age at puberty, days to calving and first parity return to oestrus in Australian temperate beef breeds

K.A. Donoghue, R. Rippon, M. Wolcott, K.L. Moore, S.A. Clark and B.J. Walmsley (2023). Age at puberty, days to calving and first parity return to oestrus in Australian temperate beef breeds.  Proc. Assoc. Advmt. Anim. Breed. Genet. 25: 55 - 58.

Progress of the Southern Multi Breed Resource Population: Hard-to-measure Phenotypes to Drive Genomic Selection

B.J. Walmsley, K.L. Moore, S.F. Walkom, S.A. Clark, T. Granleese and K.A. Donoghue (2023). Progress of the Southern Multi Breed Resource Population: Hard-to-measure Phenotypes to Drive Genomic Selection.  Proc. Assoc. Advmt. Anim. Breed. Genet. 25: 310 - 313.

Detection of Signatures of Selection in Australian Beef Cattle

H. Aliloo, B.J. Walmsley, K.A. Donoghue and S.A. Clark (2023). Detection of Signatures of Selection in Australian Beef Cattle.  Proc. Assoc. Advmt. Anim. Breed. Genet. 25: 194 - 197.

Initiating the Southern Multi Breed resource population

Walmsley, BJ, Donoghue, KA, Johnston, DJ, Clark, SA, Siddell, JP, Walkom, SF, Granleese, T, and Arthur, PF (2021). Initiating the Southern Multi-Breed Resource population. Proceedings of the 24th Conference of the Association for the Advancement of Animal Breeding and Genetics. Adelaide, South Australia. 2-4 November, pp 423-426.

Southern Multi Breed resource population: Generation of cohorts one and two

Donoghue, KA, Walmsley, BJ, Siddell, JP, Granleese, T, Penrose, L, and Arthur, PF (2021). Southern Multi-breed resource population: Generation of cohorts one and two. Proceedings of the 24th Conference of the Association for the Advancement of Animal Breeding and Genetics. Adelaide, South Australia. 2-4 November, pp 98-101.

Using Matesel to aid sire allocation in genomic reference populations - Southern Multi Breed an Example

Walkom, SF, Donoghue, KA, Arthur, PF, Clark, SA, and Walmsley, BJ (2021). Using matesel to aid sire allocation in Genomic reference populations – Southern Multi-breed an example. Proceedings of the 24th Conference of the Association for the Advancement of Animal Breeding and Genetics. Adelaide, South Australia. 2-4 November, pp 419-422.

Addressing scur phenotyping challenges with the Southern Multi Breed project

Connors, NK, Walmsley, BJ, and Donoghue, KA (2021). Addressing scur phenotypic challenges with the Southern Multi-Breed Project. Proceedings of the 24th Conference of the Association for the Advancement of Animal Breeding and Genetics. Adelaide, South Australia. 2-4 November, pp 70-73.

Media Coverage

Southern Multi Breed data reveals fresh optimism for future fertility EBVsAttendees at a recent livestock conference were granted an exclusive opportunity to delve into early Southern Multi Breed Project data, igniting fresh optimism for future fertility EBVs. Read more

Overlay project hopes to uncover new cow body composition traitsBREEDPLAN genetic evaluation provides a pretty good description of animals before they enter the reproductive phase of their life. Read more

Selecting for immune-competent cattle could deliver economic advantage for beef industry
Beef producers could improve the health and welfare of cattle in their herds and reduce their reliance on antibiotics to treat disease by simply having the right tools to select immune competence traits in their cattle, researchers suggest. Read more

Ground-breaking genomics research compares breeds
Ground-breaking research being conducted in the Southern Multi-breed Project (SMB) by genetic researchers at the NSW Department of Primary industries is directly comparing the performance of the five temperate breeds of most impact in Southern Australia - Angus, Charolais, Hereford, Shorthorn and Wagyu. Read more

Low methane genetics could have more benefits than emissions reduction
A researcher examining the genetics of livestock-related methane says the results of the study could have more benefits than emissions reduction – giving producers the ability to select more productive cattle. Read more

Momentum growing in low-methane beef genetic researchPhenotyping has started in the Australian beef industry’s $15 million research project to examine the genetics of methane emissions in beef cattle. Read more

Southern Multi Breed project expects 521 calves in major milestone
The first-generation of heifers bred by the Southern Multi Breed project are just days away from calving, with 521 expected to calve beginning in mid-July. Read more

Southern Mulit-breed Project set to offer insight into more heritable fertility traits
The long-held stereotype that fertility is only a problem in the north could soon be thrown out the window. Genetics rather than management play just as big a role, according to Dr Brad Walmsley of NSW DPI. Read more

Southern Multi Breed project data flow raises questions
Beef producers have questioned how useful data from the $7.3 million Southern Multi Breed project will be after it was revealed the six breed associations involved will determine how the information is released. Read more

Weekly genetics review: How is the Southern Multi-Breed EBV project developing?
One of the ongoing challenges for producers seeking to make informed breeding decisions across multiple breeds is the limitation of Breedplan EBVs to within-breed comparison. Read more

Multi-breed EBVs will allow producers to compare bulls between breeds
A new $7.3 million research project launched in Armidale last week will ultimately enable beef producers to directly compare bulls of different breeds for a range of traits. Read more

Multi-breed EBV research receives $7.3 million funding from NSW government
The NSW government has announced $7.3 million in research funding to establish a multi-breed estimated breeding value for the six most common breeds on Breedplan. Read more

True crossbreeding prediction begins with multi-breed EBVsThe first spring joining in a five year program to develop multi-breed EBVs will take place on six Department of Primary Industries' research stations from September. Read more