DNA to Dollars Breakfast Forum

After completing a Rural Science degree at the University of New England, Armidale in 1995, Hamish worked briefly in the poultry industry and then the Artificial Breeding industry working with cattle and sheep. He then worked as part of the BREEDPLAN team which conducts Australia’s national genetic evaluation for beef cattle for 5 years. Hamish and his wife Leanne have owned and operated a farming business in the New England region of New South Wales since 1998, and today the business focuses on sheep breeding and cattle trading enterprises across 620 Ha. Hamish started with MLA as the LAMBPLAN Project Officer in 2009 and went on to become the Sheep Genetics Manager in 2013 managing Australia’s national genetic evaluation for sheep. In 2016 he moved to the role of Program Manager Livestock Genetics that is responsible for MLA’s genetics R&D and evaluation programs across beef and sheep.

Prof Hayes has extensive research experience in genetic improvement of livestock, crop, pasture and aquaculture species, with a focus on use of DNA information into breeding programs.  He was a co-inventor of genomic selection, which is now used widely in many livestock industries.  Prof Hayes has also led research programs to develop genomic breeding values for new traits such as feed efficiency and heat tolerance, which are now routinely used in the Australian dairy industry.  Currently Prof Hayes is working to develop “rapid on farm” genomics to make the technology more accessible to producers, particularly in extensive Northern Australian production systems, and to develop multi-breed genomic breeding values.

Professor Ankeny is an interdisciplinary teacher and scholar whose areas of expertise cross three fields: food studies, history/philosophy of science, and bioethics and science policy. She is Professor in the School of Humanities where she leads the Food Values Research Group and Lead of the Agrifood Policy Stream for the Stretton Centre for social/public policy, all at the University of Adelaide. She has overseen a number of research projects associated with food ethics and animal welfare, with particular focus on community values and social license in reference to agriculture, in partnership with a variety of industry groups and stakeholders, including Australian Eggs, Agrifutures, Elders, Coles, and MLA.   

The Hamblin family run their 6,000 Wagyu herd over 46,000 acres in central Queensland and the Darling Downs. They began breeding Wagyu in 2000 by artificially inseminating their Brahman and Brangus cows. They have since purchased higher content Wagyu crossbred cows to boost breeder numbers. The Hamblins used shorthorn as a base breed in order to source the large number of cows needed for a sizeable land addition in 2010. Their offspring have been the nucleus for their progeny test selection process for high-performance sires. The enterprise has largely used artificial insemination, but in 2014 the Hamblins also focused on IVF to increase their herd’s volume of high performing genetics from superior sires and dams. Their main practice has since been a combination of IVF & MOET flush programs: their Wagyu Cows are recipients of over 1,000 Wagyu embryos a year.   

Michael and Michelle Lyons own and operate Wambiana Station, 70km Southwest of Charters Towers in North Queensland. The business has a mix of enterprises including seedstock and commercial cattle, educational tourism and leases 1,000ha to QDAF for the long-running Wambiana Grazing Trial (25 yrs). Michael is the fourth generation of the Lyons family to live and work the property where economic and ecological sustainability are paramount. Prior to returning to the family business, Michael completed a Bachelor of Agricultural Science at UQ, sold Australian tourism in the USA and worked at Resource Consulting Services in Queensland, helping to facilitate change within grazing families and their businesses. In 2014, Michael was awarded an MLA-sponsored Nuffield Scholarship where he spent 16 weeks overseas to focus on his research area of was beef cattle genetics. Michael is the current Northern Beef Producer representative on the National Livestock Genetics Consortium Taskforce.

Sally is the Program Manager for MLA’s Producer Adoption program that aims to build the capacity of red meat producers and advisors to increase on-property profitability, productivity, and sustainability through uptake of the latest R&D. Prior to joining MLA, Sally spent 16 years based in Alice Springs and Darwin delivering research and extension projects for the northern beef industry. Sally’s career has seen her work closely with beef producers in developing new technology via the Precision Pastoral Management Tools project, delivering training workshops in pregnancy testing, nutrition and grazing land management, as well as undertaking collaborative research projects in supplementation, heifer management and grazing management. Sally has her feet firmly planted on the ground with her family’s cattle, sheep & goat property in far-western NSW.

Producer, Tom Copley is a commercial cattle and seedstock producer from Anduramba in Southern Queensland. With his wife and business partner Marie and their three adult children James, Thomas and Josie, ‘Copley Pastoral’ has a focus on fertile, adapted and cost-effective Brahman cattle. For 35 years Copley Pastoral has intensively recorded their herd and utilised Breedplan to inform sire selection for continuous improvement of herd productivity and profitability.