Develop a Business Plan for an EBV Service for Pasture Genetics

Summary

MLA was interested in developing supply chain capacity in pasture genetics through improvements in breeding methodologies and the promotion of a uniform and accurate system based on economically validated breeding objectives and an EBV based system for breeding forages whereby producers can make objective judgments on the relative merit of novel forage genetics in their farming system. Project Description Three activities were progressed to develop tools to assist with developing this EBV Service: 
1. Convene an EBV working group to review and revise existing models for breeding objectives in forages. 
2. Conduct a biometric review of regional trial design. 
3. Develop a business plan for an EBV service in pastures. 
The project conducted a range of stakeholder engagement meetings regarding the development of breeding objective methodologies to assess the relative benefit of novel pastures.  There was broad agreement of the need to more adequately describe the value of novel pastures, although industry has struggled to develop a consistent methodology to define the characteristics with individual groups addressing the challenge in contrasting ways. 
This project developed a methodology to determine breeding objectives for a range of contrasting environments. Development of a model for breeding objective development in forages: This was achieved through the development and application of conjoint analysis to develop breeding objectives for contrasting regions (high rainfall, temperate inland and Mediterranean; a sub-tropical group had originally been proposed but not able to be complete due to an inability to gain input from respondents defining priority traits for this region). Conduct a biometric review of regional trial design: This component was not completed as it required seed company data sets.
Recommendations were that this activity be undertaken as part of a technical committee for the implementation of the business plan for pasture genetics database and analysis. Develop a business plan for an EBV service provider in pastures: A Business Plan has been developed. In the first instance, the users of this service are likely to be seed companies and government agencies involved with the evaluation of finished pasture cultivars.  Comprehensive discussions with breeding companies revealed little immediate demand for the provision of Estimated Breeding Values (EBVs) on individual plants.  
For this reason, the business plan has been developed as a comprehensive plan that: 

incorporates the potential to analyse both sward and individual plant data

​incorporates a timeline for implementation based on this discrepancy in demandthat recognises the likely need for a set of research activities to bridge research and application of quantitative and molecular genetic technologies in pasture plant breeding. 

The project has used both knowledge of models for EBV service provision and consultations with pasture breeding companies to review models for provision and the likely demands of end-users.  
The models include: 
national central analysis facility (e.g. LambPlan)  

small, focussed service provider

in-house data analysis (e.g. as used by pig and poultry companies). 

Key issues raised in the consultation process with likely end-users were: 
lack of in-house capacity

need for data integrity and security

desire to have a relationship with the data service, and

​need for flexibility to allow the derivation of company-specific indices 

During the course of this project it also became clear that the data provision service and provider needed to form part of MLA's project development in regional evaluation of pasture cultivars. 
The full report contains information that is commercially in confidence, and so is not published.