MateSel: Smarter, More Confident Mating Decisions for your Herd
MateSel is helping Angus breeders make clearer, more confident mating decisions – lifting genetic gain, protecting diversity and taking the stress out of planning the next generation. Fully integrated within Angus.Tech, MateSel uses your herd’s EBVs, selection indexes and breeding objectives to generate customised mating plans that align with your breeding direction.
How MateSel Can Support Your Herd
Developed by Brian and Sandy Kinghorn, MateSel is a user-friendly tool that lets you stay in control while it does the heavy genetic analysis behind the scenes. You decide the priorities -trait emphasis, inbreeding thresholds, or practical mating constraints, and MateSel generates the plan to meet those goals.
With MateSel you can:
- Lift genetic gain by matching sires and dams for complementary traits
- Manage inbreeding while maintaining long-term herd diversity
- Target specific traits alongside your preferred selection index
- Track single gene effects, including recessive conditions
- Plan matings around practical constraints, like natural service limits, semen availability, or herd management groups
MateSel also connects directly with your active inventory in Angus.Tech, plus sale and semen sires in SaleSELECT and SemenSELECT—supporting both herd planning and purchasing decisions.
Practical Scenarios: How Producers Are Using MateSel
MateSel can be applied across a range of practical herd management situations. Here’s how some producers are using it, and how you can too
1. Scoping Semen Sires or Potential Bull Purchases
Purpose: To identify sires that best fit your herd’s goals before making purchases.
How:
- In Angus.Tech, create your MateSel run with either semen sires from SemenSELECT or sale bulls from SaleSELECT, alongside your current active females (by inventory).
- In MateSel, select your herd’s preferred selection index, and additional traits for mid-parent values (or add additional trait targets).
- Run scenarios changing emphasis on genetic gain, diversity, and trait-specific targets.
Tip: For your initial exploratory runs, set max matings at 1000 for semen and sale bulls (allowing MateSel to determine which semen sires or sale bulls are most suited to your females based on the optimised contribution selection.
2. Selecting Donor Dams for ET Programs
Purpose: To choose donor cows that will maximise genetic progress.
How:
- In Angus.Tech, create your MateSel run with your current active female cohort. For Male candidates either include semen sires from SemenSELECT or your current straw inventory/list of available sires (note. This will need to be via Data Import or the text tab delimited “Upload”).
- In MateSel, select your herd’s preferred selection index, and additional traits for mid-parent values (or add additional trait targets).
- In Mating Rules (within MateSel), enter the number of embryos you hope to produce as the “Number of matings required”, select the appropriate reproductive technology (IVF or MOET). Set the min and max matings to the average number of flushed embryos expected per female.
- Run scenarios changing emphasis on genetic gain, diversity, and trait-specific targets.
Tip: Use the “Set all to” function to apply the min and max mating values across all female candidates.
3. Reviewing Natural Service Bulls
Purpose: To balance coverage, gain, and diversity across your bull team.
How:
- In Angus.Tech, create your MateSel run with your available male and female candidates using the Data Import or the text tab delimited “Upload”.
- In MateSel, select your herd’s preferred selection index, and additional traits for mid-parent values (or add additional trait targets).
- In Mating Rules (within MateSel) – Male Candidate Usage Settings:
- Max Matings: Average number of matings needed to cover cows × 1.2–1.3 (≈25–50 depending on number of available bulls).
- Min Matings: Average number of matings × 0.7–0.8 (≈20–30 depending on number of available bulls).
- Run scenarios changing emphasis on genetic gain, diversity, and trait-specific targets.
Keep an eye out: Plans are in place to develop the ability to accommodate multi-sire joining recommendations within MateSel via Angus.Tech in 2026.
Fee Structure
From 1 January 2026, MateSel is a fee-for-service product with a simple annual structure:
Annual Access fee: $1.10 (incl. GST) per female per year (charged at first extract)
Female Extract fee: $0.22 (incl. GST) per female included in each new run
Get Started
MateSel is available via Angus.Tech. Create your MateSel run with male and female candidates, run your first scenarios, and see how this tool helps you make confident, evidence-based breeding decisions.
If you’d like personalised guidance, the Angus Australia staff can walk you through MateSel for your specific herd via phone or a Teams meeting. This is a great opportunity to explore scenarios, discuss trait priorities, and see first-hand how MateSel can support your breeding objectives.
For guidance, tutorials, and resources, visit the Angus Education Centre or contact the Angus Australia Extension Team.
For further information, please contact:
Hanlie Jansen
Genetic Improvement Specialist
Phone: 0427 943 436
Email: hanlie.jansen@angusaustralia.com.au
Nancy Crawshaw
Extension Manager
Phone: +61 2 6773 4643
Email: nancy.crawshaw@angusaustralia.com.au
Brad Hine
Extension Officer
Phone: +61 2 6773 4613
Email: brad.hine@angusaustralia.com.au
