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Home > Agriculture > Series4 > Vol. 32 > No. 2

 

Journal of the Department of Agriculture, Western Australia, Series 4

Keywords

Beef cattle, Selection methods, Selective breeding, Breeding programmes, Western Australia, Wokalup Research Station

Disciplines

Genetics | Meat Science

First Page Number

53

Last Page Number

57

ISSN

0021-8618

Abstract

The aim of the Department of Agriculture's long-term beef cattle selection experiment at Wokalup is to examine the effects of selection for faster-growing cattle on biological traits that may influence the productivity of a commercial beef herd. Selection lines were established from Hereford and multibreed cattle in 1977. Twelve years of selection have produced an increase in growth rate to weaning of about 120 g per day in both lines. About 40 per cent of this increase is the result of permanent genetic improvement.

We plan to compare these characteristics in cattle from the selection lines with cattle that have been grown from frozen embryos, stored since selection was first started.

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