A range of short ‘how-to’ videos to help beef producers get started using breeding values in their herds is part of the suite of genetics resources being rolled out by Meat & Livestock Australia (MLA). The animated tutorials have been produced for tropical cattle, temperate cattle, prime lambs and merinos and are now available on MLA’s new online genetics hub, genetics.mla.com.au

The MLA genetics hub is designed to assist commercial producers understand the role genetics and breeding values can play in improving their business performance. The very fitting tagline for the campaign is ‘Accelerate your productivity with genetics: Better breeding values. Better progeny. Better performance.’ Genetic improvement is among the tools available to commercial producers to increase fertility, productivity, market compliance and eating quality.

Available to view on the MLA genetics hub are:

• ‘Pick the performer’ videos demonstrating the value of investing in breeding values.
• Videos of commercial producers (case studies) demonstrating how breeding values have helped increase profit in their herds and flocks.
• ‘How-to’ animated tutorials (within three modules) covering the basics of breeding values, setting a breeding objective, navigating BREEDPLAN and picking a high-performing sire. These modules have been designed to take viewers through a step-by-step approach, allowing them to gain confidence in understanding and utilising breeding values.

The genetics hub was launched in June 2019 and the broader campaign seeks to contribute to the National Livestock Genetics Consortium’s goal of doubling the rate of genetic gain in the commercial livestock value chain by 2022. Temperate cattle resources can be viewed here while tropical cattle resources can be viewed here.