BREEDPLAN are pleased to have welcomed Fiona Higgins to the team in July 2022. Fiona has recently completed her studies towards a Bachelor of Agriculture/Bachelor of Business at the University of New England. She grew up on Curracabark Herefords and Angus stud, located west of Gloucester in the upper Manning Valley mountains on the NSW mid-north coast. The Higgins family have been producing cattle in the Gloucester district for five generations, and the stud celebrated its 70^th anniversary this year.

Fiona worked on the family property growing up and on her gap year; this allowed her to see the practical applications and processes of BREEDPLAN evaluations from a producer’s perspective. Having collected performance data for the past 15 years, BREEDPLAN has enabled significant genetic progress in the Curracabark herd. This has included improvements in calving ease, milk production and intramuscular fat (IMF), as well as providing access to national and international genetics. Having seen the relevance and potential that BREEDPLAN has for the beef industry first hand, Fi is excited to be involved in BREEDPLAN from a technical and analytical perspective.