Nominations are now open for bulls to be considered for the next round of the Angus Sire Benchmarking program (ASBP) to produce the Cohort 15 progeny.   

The joining program will commence in September 2024 and will involve approximately 1800 Angus breeders across several Australian co-operator Angus cow herds.  

The benefits of bulls entering the ASBP include: 

• Be involved in world-leading research in areas such as methane emissions phenotyping, development of genomic tools, new meat quality traits and understanding resilience traits like immune competence. 
• Develop close genetic linkage to the Angus Australia reference population ensuring research and genetic evaluation outcomes will be highly relevant to your herd. 
• Receive high accuracy EBVs (Estimated Breeding Values), particularly for hard to measure traits such as abattoir carcase data, female reproduction, and feed intake.  
• Receive progeny average values and sire rankings from within the ASBP, including traits such as MSA (Meat Standards Australia) Index. 
• Be involved in one of Australia’s most comprehensive and long-running genomic reference population programs, including high-quality data and large contemporary groups.  
  

Approximately 30 Angus bulls will be selected for the 2024 joining program with the aim to join each bull to at least 50 cows by fixed time AI. The bull selection criteria will be based on genetic diversity, breeding values, selection indexes, and their relationship to sires already used in the ASBP.   

Nominations will be open until Thursday the 1st of August 2024. Strictly no late nominations will be accepted.   

Key Steps: 

• Step 1 – Nominate bull(s) via the online form by early August. 
• Step 2 – Owners of successfully shortlisted nominations will be contacted by the 9^th August, provided with a Bull Owners agreement for signing, Veterinary and Health Declaration form and semen request.
• Step 3 – Bull owners organise semen (100 straws) to be delivered to Agri-Gene, Wangaratta, VIC by the end of August. All semen will undergo independent quality checks at this stage. 
  

Some key items to consider which need to be organised prior to semen collection and entry into the ASBP: 

• All ASBP sires must be tested negative for BVDV (aka Pestivirus) persistent infection (PI).  
• All ASBP sires must be up to date for Leptosporosis and Bovine Venereal Campylobacteriosis (Vibriosis) vaccination prior to semen collection.  
• AI sires born after 01/01/2018 must be tested for all 9 Genetic Conditions, as per section 6.24 of the Angus Australia Regulations.   
  

Entry Fee 

All bulls that enter the ASBP joining program will attract an entry fee of $2500 (plus GST)
 
Contact 

If you have any questions in relation to the nomination process or the ASBP in general please contact please contact Dr Liam Mowbray, Research & Development Specialist, on 0436406140 or email liam.mowbray@angusaustralia.com.au.