Australian Brahman Breeders’ Association . Please Keep The Breedplan Live Export $ Index
The issue
The Australian Brahman Breeders' Association (ABBA) has proposed to suspend and review the Breedplan Live Export $ Index to increase the emphasis on Growth versus Reproduction and then move to two separate Growth and Fertility Selection Scores. This is counter to worldwide best practice in Genetic Evaluation Systems where selection indexes are commonly used. A well-designed selection index helps producers balance the relative importance of economically relevant traits rather than relying on a single characteristic or making decisions without a defined production-system objective. The breeds that compete with Brahman provide such figures to commercial producers.
The MLA “Cashcow” project found that the median (middle) herd in the Northern Forest region (where most live exporting herds live) had a 66% pregnancy rate with 12% of pregnant cows then missing (dead?!) and 14% foetal/calf loss. This translates to 50% weaning. The wet cow pregnancy was 17%. The median annual steer weight gain was 100 kg.
Under these conditions reducing mortality and increasing fertility are more important profit drivers in a self-replacing commercial herd than heavier weight. This is reflected in the Live Export Index which was developed by the very experienced producers of the North Australia Beef Research Council (NABRC) funded Katherine Pastoral Industry Advisory Committee(KPIAC) in cooperation with the Breedplan scientists (ABRI and AGBU). It gives the largest weighting of 41% to Days to Calving versus the second largest weighting of 25% for 600-day weight.
The removal of the Live Export Index would mean losing a single, market-specific measure of estimated profitability for the production system it represents. Although individual Estimated Breeding Values (EBVs) would continue to provide valuable information, interpreting multiple traits independently places a greater burden on individual breeders and buyers.
We ask the ABBA Board to consider this petition and provide a formal response outlining its position, any review process and the proposed arrangements for continued access to this highly relevant Live Export Index.
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The issue
The Australian Brahman Breeders' Association (ABBA) has proposed to suspend and review the Breedplan Live Export $ Index to increase the emphasis on Growth versus Reproduction and then move to two separate Growth and Fertility Selection Scores. This is counter to worldwide best practice in Genetic Evaluation Systems where selection indexes are commonly used. A well-designed selection index helps producers balance the relative importance of economically relevant traits rather than relying on a single characteristic or making decisions without a defined production-system objective. The breeds that compete with Brahman provide such figures to commercial producers.
The MLA “Cashcow” project found that the median (middle) herd in the Northern Forest region (where most live exporting herds live) had a 66% pregnancy rate with 12% of pregnant cows then missing (dead?!) and 14% foetal/calf loss. This translates to 50% weaning. The wet cow pregnancy was 17%. The median annual steer weight gain was 100 kg.
Under these conditions reducing mortality and increasing fertility are more important profit drivers in a self-replacing commercial herd than heavier weight. This is reflected in the Live Export Index which was developed by the very experienced producers of the North Australia Beef Research Council (NABRC) funded Katherine Pastoral Industry Advisory Committee(KPIAC) in cooperation with the Breedplan scientists (ABRI and AGBU). It gives the largest weighting of 41% to Days to Calving versus the second largest weighting of 25% for 600-day weight.
The removal of the Live Export Index would mean losing a single, market-specific measure of estimated profitability for the production system it represents. Although individual Estimated Breeding Values (EBVs) would continue to provide valuable information, interpreting multiple traits independently places a greater burden on individual breeders and buyers.
We ask the ABBA Board to consider this petition and provide a formal response outlining its position, any review process and the proposed arrangements for continued access to this highly relevant Live Export Index.
The Decision Makers
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Petition created on 2 November 2026