The Angus Sire Benchmarking Program (ASBP) has received outstanding response from Angus Australia members through the entry of 33 new Australian sires, coming from 70 nominations, to produce the Cohort 8 calves.
Additionally, to provide genetic linkages, the list also includes:
- A sire from the United States (PA Full Power 1208) which is included in a progeny test program undertaken by the American Angus Association.
- A sire from New Zealand (Kakahu Bond 13007) which is included in progeny test programs undertaken by Beef and Lamb New Zealand Genetics, and
- Two sires from Cohort 7 of the ASBP (Esslemont Lotto L3 and Bannaby Reserve K173)
The full Cohort 8 sire list is available from ASBPSELECT by CLICKING HERE.
Overall, the 37 bulls entering Cohort 8 of the ASBP are a high-performance group averaging in the top 5% for the all Indexes. Importantly this high performance is also coupled with genetic diversity and representative of the modern Australian Angus population. A summary of the sire EBVs are tabled below:
Across the 8 Cohorts of the ASBP, there has now been 299 modern Angus bulls enter this cutting-edge research and development program.
The 2017 joining program to produce the Cohort 8 calves is currently underway with approximately 2500 cows across 7 co-operator herds being inseminated for the year.
Each sire will be joined to approximately 65 cows to produce 32 to 37 calves. This is from a fixed time AI program utilising Vetoquinol advice and products such as the Cue-Mate devices.