Leading breeder 2021

Leading breeder 2021

‘Investing in innovation for genetic improvement’ was the theme for this year’s Leading Breeder conference.

108 people registered for the event and 99 attended in-person and online.

Hosted by MLA Sheep Genetics, the biennial event was held across two locations, Armidale and Adelaide, and streamed online enabling attendees to tune in from home.

MLA Sheep Genetics Program Manager, Gus Rose said the future-focused program was well received.

“The combination of in-person and livestream delivery made the event more accessible for more producers right across Australia and overseas,” he said.

Program sessions included:

  • Delivering better breeding values
  • Database redevelopment – what does it mean for you?
  • Reproduction – now and into the future
  • The Resource Flock – an industry reference creating data
  • Investing in new traits – where are the opportunities?
  • First look at the MSA Mark II Model
  • Blue sky genetics investment
  • The MLA genetics campaign.

Those who attended the conference in Armidale were also invited to attend the MLA Resource Flock Day, hosted by UNE at Kirby. The day included talks on the role of the Resource Flock, technologies for measuring carcase traits and improvements in sheep meat quality. Attendees also got a look at last year’s lamb drop and preliminary weight gain data.

Every attendee said they learned something new from the forum and more than half said they planned to make changes in their businesses as a direct result of the information presented at the conference.

Watch the recorded forum sessions here.