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12 HOMEWORK As a livestock breeder describe your greatest goals and fears. Students are to place their answer under their name below. Andrew Watson Goals My goals as a lives stock breeder is breed either though native or Ai the best quality of animal products that I can produce e.g. heffiors and steers .which would meet the very high market specs in the domestic market. In doing sow i would to make profit while injoying the work that i do. Have the bulls that i breed to have great charecteristics e.g. be able to mate anumber of cows, have great sperm. The livestock that are breed for meat to have high quality mabing. Have the property run by my own family with out any otherworks woring on it. The livestock to grow quickly as it can. This will hopefulling lead me to widely know breeder who sells great produce at the right prices to both buyers of livestock and of the carcase. To be the best breeder that i could be with both sheep and cattle. Frears My greatest fear is to Losing the property that i have borrowed my to set up. This could lead the end of breeding before it has just start or having to start from sratch. My second would be Injuring or harm the livestock in the process of breeding them. This would lead to lose of production as well as increase in the cost of the product. This would make me feel like i’m a bad breeder who dose not know what he is doing. Also to Selling livestock that are not up to high standes. I would be upset with myself if I was to sell products to the people that would not want to buy myself. Another fear would be Ripping someone off. I would hat to charge people to much for something the was the best because my repatation would desotyed and i would lose business from people. That would fail a breeding and the livestock that I was breeding would be poor quality.
 * Oscar Cowie**

Breeding technology has changed since the early development of agriculture. It has resulted in the farmer having an increase in control over what their stock will contain. Starting with selective breeding, farmers have been inspired to design technologies that allow them to have maximum control over what their livestock will produce as a result of reproduction. Although beneficial to the farmer, these technologies bring many ethical issues such as ‘playing god’ or cheating within the market. This is a sensitive topic as those who tend to have issues with these technologies do not understand the process or the difficulties associated with breeding in agriculture
 * Paragraph to half a page Breeding technology is changing agriculture permanently. Discuss this statement 6 marks**

As a livestock breeder there are several qualities I wish to achieve in my stock however there are also some fears that I have in achieving my goals. My main goal is to produce a quality beef product with a medium level of marbling in order to place my product in the top half of the market in terms of quality. My reasons behind this are so that the average family can afford my product yet it is still high in quality and not only affordable by upper class families. In order to achieve this my fears have affected my approach. For example, I do not wish to clone my stock or implicate the processes of MOET or JIVET. The reasoning behind this is I do not want to change farming too much and chose to keep it traditional, I also believe that the money required and time required is not worth the associated risks especially with JIVET. This means that for me to produce the product I wish I will need to undertake the process of selective breeding. This does however bring with it disadvantages, these include that of the time required to pass on desirable genes and assessing the stock to determine whether it is fit for the process. Despite this disadvantage I still believe it is best for my livestock.
 * AS A LIVESTOCK BREEDER DESCRIBE YOUR GREATEST GOALS AND FEARS.**

awesome answe Taking advantage of the technologies and breeding techniques available to livestock farmers is the best way to continue to run reproductive herds that can produce high quality animals. By use of such methods as Multiple Ovulation Embryo Transfer (MOET), Juvenile In-Vitro Embryo Transfer (JIVET) and Artificial Insemination (AI), breeders have the ability to select animals with desirable characteristics and genetics and produce greater numbers of these desirable animals. Use of such methods also eliminates the effect of poor genetics on a herd, whereby farmers can insert the genetics of a desirable animal into that of a surrogate mother that may not otherwise produce desirable offspring. My goal as a breeder is to implement these methods to increase the quality of my herd and promote desirable genetics throughout the stud. Although MOET and JIVET are expensive and time consuming, I believe they are a worthwhile investment into the farm. The major fear of using these methods is the ethical implications that external organisations may impede upon breeders using such breeding techniques. MOET and JIVET involve the involuntary insemination of one animal’s embryo into that of several others; presenting a potential discussion as to whether this is unethical or not. Also, the severe cost and effort required to conduct such programs will reduce the maximum earning potential of the farm. Breeding techniques such as MOET, JIVET, AI and Cloning continue to change the livestock sector of Australian agriculture, as several new methods of breeding are available to all farmers nation-wide. Although these practices may be considered unethical by some, breeders now have the ability to choose desirable genetics and multiply the number of animals with these characteristics. MOET allows breeders to remove fertilised embryos from a mature cow with desirable genetics, which are then placed in surrogate mothers. MOET enables 10-15 of these calves to be born per year rather than per lifetime. JIVET involves choosing a juvenile female animal based on the genetics of her parents, which then has its oocytes (eggs) removed from the ovary. This female then becomes infertile, however an unlimited number of eggs can be fertilised in test tubes (in-vitro) and placed in surrogate mothers. Similarly to MOET, JIVET allows breeders to multiply the number of calves carrying superior genetics. AI is used in both MOET and JIVET, whereby fertilised embryos are artificially placed in female animals. Hence, breeders today do not have to rely on using bulls to mate naturally; instead they can do so without the physical presence of any male animals. All that is required is the sperm of a genetically desirable bull, and AI can commence. Cloning is simply producing a genetically identical animal to that of a desirable animal. Of the four breeding techniques mentioned, this is targeted most as an unethical method of breeding. Even though these practices allow more and more farmers to produce herds of desirable animals and high quality livestock, ethical concerns from some farmers and external organisations target the use of these methods. Hence, using MOET and JIVET comes with the potential of being criticised and given a bad reputation because of the breeding techniques used. More so, Cloning is widely thought of as being unethical due to the involuntary replication of animals that may allow in-breeding to occur.
 * DOUG LAURIE**
 * Breeding Technique Questions **
 * 1) //As a livestock breeder describe your greatest goals and fears//
 * 1) //Discuss how breeding techniques are changing agriculture in Australia//

//__ BREEDING SYSTEMS. __//

There are a number of mating or breeding systems that a farmer can use.

__ RANDOM. __ Selected animals are mated at random without regard to their relationship. This increases the available gene pool and as such reduces the chances of any genetic abnormalities occurring.

__ INBREEDING __ This involves the mating of close relatives such as brothers with sisters, mothers with son and fathers with daughters. This system produces an even line of animals, however increases the risks of bringing together undesirable genes such as dwarfism and extra limbs being formed in cattle.

__ LINE BREEDING __ This involves using a single common ancestor (a sire or dam) used over several generations of mating. Its value depends on the degree of superiority of the animal chosen to be the base animal. A high degree of uniformity of type and production is obtained. Valuable traits of an animal are passed onto several generations.

__ CROSSBREEDING. __ This involves the mating of unrelated animals of different breeds. In this system new genes are brought into the flock or herd. The crossbreed progeny, or hybrids, are usually faster growing than either of the parents, this is known as HYBRID VIGOR or heterosis. Limousin crossed with Angus calves grow faster than purebred Limousin or Angus calves.