Conference program
MONDAY 2 MAY 2011
| 3:00 - 7:00pm | Conference Registration Sebel Albert Park Convention Centre Entrance - Ground Floor |
| 7:00 - 8:30pm | Welcome Reception Sebel Albert Park - Level 1 Pre Function Area |
TUESDAY 3 MAY 2011
Sebel Albert Park - Grand Ballroom
| Session 1: The Technology Chair: Professor Robin Batterham AO FREng FAA FTSE, President and Chair - Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering; Former Chief Scientist of Australia |
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| 8:15 | Welcome to Country and Opening |
| 8:45 | Uses of genomics in livestock agriculture. Professor Michael Goddard. University of Melbourne and Department of Primary Industries, Victoria. |
| 9:15 | The use of SNP chips for selection of dairy cattle. Dr Curt Van Tassell. USDA-ARS Bovine Functional Genomics Laboratory/Animal Improvement Programs Laboratory, Beltsville, MD, USA. |
| 9:45 | The role of sequencing in livestock breeding. John McEwan. AgResearch Invermay, New Zealand. |
| 10:15 | Morning Tea |
| Session 2: Finding Genes for Economically Important Traits Session kindly sponsored by CSIRO Chair: Professor Alan Bell, CSIRO Livestock Industries, Brisbane |
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| 10:45 | QTN modulating the transcription rate of a chromosome domain encompassing PLAG1 control bovine stature Professor Michel Georges. GIGA-Research & Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Liège, Belgium |
| 11:15. | Chicks and SNPs - an entrée into identifying genes conferring disease resistance in chicken. Dr Hans Cheng. USDA-ARS - Avian Disease and Oncology Laboratory USDA, MI, USA. |
| 11:45 | Dissecting the genetics underlying reproduction rate in tropically adapted beef cattle. Dr. Rachel Hawken. CSIRO Livestock Industries. |
| 12:00 | Patterns of Genetic Variation and Signatures of Selection in the Sheep Genome. Dr. James Kijas. CSIRO Livestock Industries. |
| 12:15 | Lunch |
| Session 3: Applications of Genomics Chair: Dr Chris Anderson, CSIRO Publishing, Melbourne |
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| 1:15 | How accurate can we make genomic selection? Professor Theo Meuwissen. Norwegian University of Life Sciences. |
| 1:45 | How Ireland is Capturing the Benefits of Genomic Selection in its Cattle Population Dr Brian Wickham. Irish Cattle Breeding Federation Society |
| 2:15 | Genome sequencing of African and Indicine cattle for SNP development Dr Bill Barendse. CSIRO Livestock Industries |
| 2:30 | Early-career scientists Finding genes for economically important traits: Brahman cattle puberty Marina Fortes, Beef CRC The accuracy of genomic prediction when using information from distantly related animals Sam Clark, Sheep CRC Identifying pathways significant for milk production traits in livestock Lesley-ann Gray, Dairy CRC |
| 2:45 | Afternoon Tea |
| Session 4: Uses of Genomics in Livestock Chair: Professor Ben Cocks, Research Director, Biosciences Research Division, VDPI |
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| 3:15 | The use of genomics in the management of livestock. Professor Brian Kinghorn. University of New England, Australia. |
| 3:45 | Application of livestock genome technologies for genetic improvement in the developing world Professor John Gibson. University of New England, Australia. |
| 4:15 | Designing dairy cattle breeding schemes under genomic selection - a review of international research. Dr. Jennie Pryce. Department of Primary industries, Victoria, Australia. |
| 4:45 | Close Day 1 Sessions |
| 7:00 - 11:00 | "The Angus Society of Australia - Certified Australian Angus Beef Dinner" Olympic Room, Melbourne Cricket Grounds Buses depart from the Sebel Hotel Foyer from 6.00 pm |
WEDNESDAY 4 MAY 2011
Sebel Albert Park - Grand Ballroom
| Session 5: Applications of Genomics in Livestock Agriculture (I) Chair: Mr Don Heatley, Chairman, Meat and Livestock Australia |
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| 8:15 | Welcome and Opening of Day 2 |
| 8:30 | Genomics and the global livestock industries. Professor John Pollak.USDA Meat Animal Research Center, Clay Center, Nebraska |
| 9:00 | Genomic selection in French dairy cattle. Dr Didier Boichard. National Institute for Agricultural Research (INRA) Animal Genetics Department, Joey en Josas, France. |
| 9:30. | Comparison of genomic selection across species. Dr Ben Hayes. Victoria Department of Primary Industries. |
| 10:00 | Morning Tea |
| Session 6: Applications of Genomics in Livestock Agriculture (II) Chair: Dr Mike Ginnivan, Chairman, Dairy Futures CRC |
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| 10:30 | Applied Genomic Selection in Layers. Dr Rudolf Preisinger. Lohmann Tierzucht GmbH, Germany |
| 11:00 | Resource populations to underpin genomic selection. Dr Rob Banks. Meat & Livestock Australia. University of New England, Armidale, Australia. |
| 11:30 | Genomic selection in sheep. Professor Julius Van der Werf. University of New England, Australia. |
| 11:45 | Early-career scientists Genetic variation in the bovine myostatin gene and its effect on muscularity Dr Brendon O'Rourke, Beef CRC The accuracy of genomic prediction for novel traits in sheep Dr Hans Daetwyler, Sheep CRC Breeding the ideal heifer Dr Kathryn Kemper, Dairy CRC |
| 12:00 | Lunch |
| Session 7: Getting value from Genomics Chair: Dr Guy Fitzhardinge, Chairman, CRC for Beef Genetic Technologies |
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| 1:00 | The potential value of genomic technologies to the beef industry Alex McDonald. Australian Performance Beef Breeders' Association and Australian Limousin Breeders Society. |
| 1:18 | How genomics has revolutionized the dairy cattle industry. Dr Brian Vandoormaal. Canadian Dairy Network. |
| 1:36 | Getting value from genomics for the Merino industry - current challenges and future expectations Philip Toland. Toland Merinos. |
| 1:54 | Integration of genomic technologies into beef and sheep genetic evaluations in Australia Dr Andrew Swan. AGBU, University of New England, Armidale, Australia. |
| 2:12 | Integration of genomic technologies into dairy genetic evaluations. Dr Gert Nieuwhof. Australian Dairy Herd Improvement Scheme. |
| 2:30 | Afternoon Tea |
| Session 8: The Future Chair: : Dr John Keniry, Chairman, CRC for Sheep Industry Innovation |
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| 3:00 | Genomics - Who gets the benefit? A commercial perspective Peter Thurn. Genetics Australia. |
| 3:30 | Future opportunities and needs in beef Dr David Johnston. Animal Genetics and Breeding Unit, University of New England, Australia. |
| 4:00 | Future requirements for sheep breeders to capture the full benefits of genomics. Dr Alex Ball. Meat & Livestock Australia. |
| 4:30 | Future of livestock genomics. Professor Mike Goddard. University of Melbourne and DPI Victoria |
| 5:00 - Closing Remarks and Thanks Dr Heather Burrow on behalf of Organising Committee |
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| 6:30 - 8:30 | Informal Dinner - State Roon Sebel Hotel |
THURSDAY 5 MAY 2011
Genomics for Producers
A practical look at the application of genomics for animal industries. The program today is dedicated to answering breeders' questions about getting the most out of genomics. Breeders and advisers are encouraged to test their ideas for using genomics on farm with leading scientists and fellow breeders.
| 9:30 | Registration and morning tea |
| 10:00 | Welcome and Opening Plenary - Sebel Albert Park - Grand Ballroom Chair: Dr Rob Banks, MLA, Manager R&D Strategy and Evaluation |
| 10:05 | Genomics 101 - a practical introduction to genomics. Daniel Abernethy. Australian Dairy Herd Improvement Scheme. We have heard about this exciting area of genomics but what is it and why is it different from what we currently use? |
| 10:35 | The latest in applied genomics research. Assocciate Professor Ben Hayes. Department of Primary Industries - Victoria. What are the key points of interest from day 2 of the conference and what are the implications for producers? |
| 11:05 | From the lab to the farm. Professor Julius Van der Werf. University of New England. How can Australian research be applied to breeding tools for producers? |
| 11:35 | Taking it to the next step. Professor Mike Goddard. University of Melbourne & Department of Primary Industries, Victoria. What can we expect from current research across the CRCs? |
| 12:05 | Lunch |
| CONCURRENT SESSIONS: Dairy Session - Building dairy breeding programs using genomics Chair: Ivan Jones, Vice Chair, Australian Dairy Herd Improvement Scheme |
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| 1:00 | The use and implementation of genomics in my country from two perspectives Dr Brian Wickham. Irish Cattle Breeders Federation and Dr Brian Van Doormaal. Canadian Dairy Network and Holstein Canada. What has been the experience in other countries and how can we learn from them? |
| 2:20 | My herd, my choices. How dairy farmers can make the most of new genomic technologies. Dr Jennie Pryce. Department of Primary Industries, Victoria. Genomics opens new opportunities but how do we set up new breeding programs to take advantage of new information? |
| 2:45 | Genomics and Holstein Australia - opportunities and challenges. Dr Matthew Shaffer. Holstein Australia. Holstein Australia have recently introduced new genomic services. Why have they commenced it and what value will it provide its members. |
| CONCURRENT SESSIONS: Beef and Sheep Session - Breeding programs using genomics Chair: Dr Kishore Prayaga, Product Development Manager (Aus.-NZ), Pfizer Animal Genetics |
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| 1:00 | Genomics products. Dr Rob Woolaston. Airlie Solutions, Brisbane, Qld, Australia What products are currently available and what's next to hit the marketplace? |
| 1:30 | Incorporating genomics into genetic evaluations. Dr David Johnston and Dr Daniel Brown. AGBU, University of New England, Armidale Australia. How are genomics incorporated into BREEDPLAN/LAMBPLAN and MERINOSELECT? |
| 2:00 | Where in the beef cattle supply chain do DNA tests generate value? Dr Alison van Eenennaam. Department of Animal Science, University of California, Davis, USA. Does genomics work? Is it useful? Does it pay? |
| 2:30 | Genomic influences on industry structure. Dr Rob Banks. Meat and Livestock Australia, and Dr Peter Parnell. Angus Australia, Armidale, Australia. In this new age, what are the roles of breed societies, nucleus progeny testing programs? |
| 3:00 | Afternoon Tea |
| Producer Panel Chair: Ms Kate Joseph, President, Sheepmeat Council of Australia |
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| 3:30 | Genomics Q&A - Dr Rob Woolaston What are the current challenges and future expectations from the producer's perspective? Rob will be accompanied by 4 leading producers in testing current thinking and new ideas for the application of genomics on farm. |
| 3:35 | What I do, why I do it and what I need next. Brian Anderson, Bundalong Holsteins. Phil Toland, Toland Merinos. Steve Milne, Waratah White Suffolks and Tom Gubbins, Te Mania Angus. What are the current challenges and future expectations of genomics from a producer perspective? Supported technically by speakers from earlier in the day. |
| 5.00 - Closing Remarks Dr Rob Banks, MLA, Manager R&D Strategy and Evaluation |
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