A DAY has been set aside for beef producer attendance at this month’s annual Association for the Advancement of Animal Breeding and Genetics (AAABG) conference in Perth.

The AAABG hosts an international conference for breeders, livestock scientists and other industry service providers to meet and discuss current research and the application of livestock genetics in animal breeding. This year’s even will be staged in Perth from Wednesday to Friday 26-28 July.

Crushside genomic prediction under trial on farm

While the full scientific conference may be of interest to some beef producers, AAABG will also be running a dedicated Producers Day Linking Science with Farm on Thursday 27 July.

The full program can be found on the AAABG website here. Those interested in attending the Producers Day can register to attend here, while those interested in attending the full conference can register here.

Speakers during the producer day will include:

• Animal Genetics and Breeding Unit (AGBU) Director, Dr Steve Miller, addressing the topic “Is livestock breeding at the crossroads and speeding up? Dr Miller will take a look into the future of livestock breeding and explores the question: “Can we rely on the science to drive genetic progress at unprecedented rate? And, if so, where will that take us?”
• Mark Henryon, Danish Pig Research Centre, Danish Agriculture and Food Council, Denmark, addressing the topic: Why animal breeding is part of the solution to environment, climate, and animal-welfare challenges facing animal production
• Suzanne Rowe from AgResearch NZ, gives insight inot the topic: Measuring methane – An opportunity for the engineers amongst us to understand our producers’ future – which may include having access to portable methane measurement chambers so we have an exact handle on what’s going on on-farm with our livestock.
• The Emerging geneticists challenge: Communicating genetic research outcomes that farmers adopt. In a session hosted by Dr Jo Newton OAM, three finalists compete for the privilege of being chosen by their end-user, the producers – as the person with the best capacity to communicate their genetic messages to farmers. Each finalist gets 5 minutes to demonstrate their ability to make complex simple; and then respond to a series of questions. The winner will be announced at dinner that evening.

Members of the ABRI Extension Services and BreedPlan teams will be in attendance at the AAABG conference, with ABRI personnel having submitted several abstracts for presentation at the conference. The trade fair will also include a BreedPlan stand.

Attendance at the Producers Day costs $150 per person. Tickets for the conference dinner, which will be held on the Thursday evening and provides a great opportunity to network with fellow producers, scientists and other industry personnel, can also be purchased for $145.

About the AAABG

The Association for the Advancement of Animal Breeding and Genetics is a professional organisation based in Australia and New Zealand for livestock scientists, breeders, educators, students and industry service providers. The major activity conducted by AAABG to achieve its objectives is an international conference held at every two years.

Principal objectives are to: (i) promote scientific research on the genetics of animals, (ii) foster the application of genetics in animal production and (iii) develop communication among all those interested in the application of genetics to animal production, particularly breeders and their organisations, consultants, extension workers, educators and geneticists.