Why Your Herd Should Be Part of the Genomics Revolution
The Reference Population Advantage Northern Producers Need to Understand
If you're running cattle in northern Australia, you know the challenges: weaning rates that can drop to 40 percent, fertility problems that eat into your bottom line, and the constant battle to identify which animals will actually perform in harsh conditions.
Genomic testing can transform how you build your herd. But there's a crucial difference between simply purchasing testing and contributing your herd to the reference population.
Understanding the Reference Population Advantage
Here's what many producers don't realise: When you contribute data to the reference population, you're fundamentally improving the accuracy of genomic predictions for your own cattle.
How Genomic Predictions Actually Work
Genomic testing compares your animal's DNA to a reference population of cattle with known performance records. The more closely related your cattle are to animals in the reference population, the more accurate the predictions become.
When you contribute your herd's data, your animals literally become part of the database that generates predictions. This means:
Higher accuracy predictions for your specific genetics and breed composition
More reliable selection decisions because the reference includes cattle that share your bloodlines
Better calibration for your environmental conditions and management system
Ongoing improvement as your herd's performance data continues to refine the predictions
A producer who purchases testing gets predictions based on the existing reference population. A producer who contributes gets predictions specifically calibrated to their genetics—and those predictions become more accurate over time.
What's In It for Reference Population Contributors?
Dramatically More Accurate Results for Your Herd
The reference population was built from approximately 30,000 animals across over 50 northern herds, but if your specific genetics, breed composition, or bloodlines aren't well-represented, your predictions will be less accurate.
By contributing, you ensure your genetics ARE well-represented:
More confident culling decisions on heifers before first joining
Better bull selection with predictions you can trust
Reduced risk of expensive mistakes based on less-accurate predictions
Priority Access to Tool Refinements
Contributing herds get first access to improvements and new trait predictions before commercial release.
Detailed Benchmarking Intelligence
Contributing producers receive comparative analysis showing how their herd's fertility performance stacks up against other regional herds—contextualised data that reveals exactly where genetic improvement efforts should focus.
Accelerated Genetic Gain
Genomic tools allow selection of bulls as calves with fertility traits already identified, accelerating what would otherwise take decades of traditional selection. The difference between three extra calves over a cow's lifetime versus average performance is transformational for profitability—but only if the predictions are accurate enough for you to make decisions.
The Bottom Line
Fertility is the main driver of productivity and profitability in northern beef production. The accuracy of genomic predictions depends on how well your cattle are represented in the reference population.
There's a fundamental difference between:
Commercial testing: Predictions based on the existing reference population, which may or may not represent your genetics well
Contributing to the reference population: Your cattle become part of the database, dramatically improving prediction accuracy for your specific bloodlines and production environment
The dairy industry showed that genomic selection could double the rate of genetic gain within a decade. That same revolution is coming to northern beef production—and it works best for producers whose genetics are actually in the reference population.