Summary

ADHIS was formed in 1982 as an initiative of the Australian Dairy Farmers’ (ADF) with the support of the Standing Committee on Agriculture.

Australian Breeding Values (ABV’s) for production traits were released twenty years ago in 1983.

Over thirty new traits have been added since 1983.

ADHIS has generated an estimated $200 million in net benefits to Australian dairyfarmers at a cost of about $10 million.

Getting Started

ADHIS was born from recommendations from the Standing Committee on Agriculture following lobbying from key dairyfarmers for a national genetic evaluation system.

Prior to 1983, herd recording and to some extend artificial breeding, were still under the control of state government legislation and managed by state authorities. This included some state based genetic assessment.

In 1978, the Victorian Department of Agriculture offered to compute breeding values within each state, using the method of Modified Contemporary Comparisons. At the same time, an Australian Dairy Research Committee (ADRC) project commenced under the supervision of Dr Ian Hopkins to develop a national program of genetic evaluation using the method referred to as BLUP (Best Linear Unbiased Predictor). Dr Geoff Robinson was employed on this project as Statistician. Geoff was responsible for most of the early statistical and software design. Staff of the Victorian Department wrote most of the programs required for developing a national data set, and for extracting appropriate data for analysis.

After the initial ADRC project, it was decided that it was more appropriate for ADF to manage the project as an ongoing concern.

The ADHIS Board first formally met on September 9th 1982 at Dairy Industry House in St Kilda Road Melbourne. The Board consisted of John Bennett (Tasmania), Bill Pyle (Victoria), Jack Eggert (NSW) and John McQueen (Executive Officer), Dr Graeme Alexander (Queensland DPI) and Mr Clay Manners (Secretary). However Mr Pat Rowley actually deputised for John Bennett at that meeting.

The first ADHIS scientists were also in attendance, namely Dr Ian Hopkins, Dr Geoff Robinson and Dr Les Jones. As is the case today, ADHIS’ technical team was provided by the Victorian Department of Agriculture (in its various forms over the years). The relationship between ADHIS and the Victorian department has been a successful one and the ADHIS Board minutes record that significant time and effort has been invested in maintaining the relationship over the past twenty years.

Les Jones and Kevin Beard provided the technical service for ADHIS via the Department of Primary Industries Victoria to this day. Their contribution of their skills and service cannot be overstated.

The first ADHIS Advisory Committee Meeting took place on 6 July 1982, also at Dairy Industry House. Advisory Committee representation was structured according to decisions from the Agricultural Council and through directives of the Minister for Primary Industries. Its charter was to make recommendations to the board about technical and operational issues affecting ADHIS.

The inaugural ADHIS Advisory Committee
WH Pyle, KL Perkins (ADFF), EIC Rowly and K Chester (HIOV), MAL Liebelt (HISCOL), RE Lawrence (Elders), AD Frost (THIO), BA Mayne (VAB), DB Heponstall (Dep of Ag NSW), H Edgoose (Dep of Ag Vic), IH Rayner (DPI Qld), CR Blacker (RDCA), CR Manners (Secretary).

Visitors were Dr I Hopkins, G Robinson and V Badham (Dep of Ag Vic), G McCormack (DPI Qld) and Mrs N Anderson (ADFF).

The basic framework of ABV formulation dominated the agendas of these early meetings. This included the consistency of results, sire identification, reliability estimation, linkages between populations, publication rules and presentation.

Present as an observer at some early ADHIS meetings was Professor Ted Burnside from Canada. In conjunction with the Executive Officer, Mr McQueen, Ted toured the regions of Australia in 1983, explaining the benefits of the ABV system.

In 1984 ADHIS Pty Ltd was registered and publications were released under this entity.

Funding ADHIS was a constant item on the Board agendas especially in the 1980’s when the benefits of ADHIS, although clear to most, were still unclear to some. In the early years the ADHIS Board and staff were regularly in contact with the ADRC to argue and justify ongoing funding. In 1986, just three years after the first release, the ADRC asked the Board to reduce the ADHIS budget.

Following the 1986 ADRC request, consideration was given to service funding. The Board decided to separate the commercial elements of ADHIS from the R & D elements, in the budget of 1986/87. Service revenue grew steadily from this point as fees were applied to ADHIS services.

Up until 1997, ADHIS funding remained subject to an annual grant application to the ADRC which became the Dairy Research and Development Corporation (DRDC). In 1998 and again in 2001, the DRDC granted a three-year funding contract to ADHIS for about 60% of its funding requirements.

The first ABV analyses used a sire model using only completed first lactations. The collaborative work of Geoff Robinson and Kevin Beard led to the use of individual test day records to take better account of fluctuations in environment between test days, and to use records in progress.

There was considerable interest in identifying elite cows more effectively. At the same time, the industry wanted notice taken of performance in all lactations. Geoff was able to develop a method of solving equations that made simultaneous evaluation of the genetic merit of cows and bulls economically feasible.

Cow plus bull BLUP (now known worldwide as an Animal Model) was proposed to the ADHIS Board by Geoff Robinson in early 1983. In the following year ADHIS became the first organisation in the world to implement this model for breeding values.

ADHIS’ sub-committees were also formed in these early days. In 1983 the Genetics Committee was formed with Dr Frank Nicholas, Dr Sandy McClintock, Dr Keith Hammond and Dr Mick Tierney joining the ADHIS technical staff on the inaugural committee.

The Records-Standards Committee was also formed in 1983. The inaugural committee was Mr Arthur Stubbs, (HIO), Mr Ken Phillips (DPI Qld), Mr R Bettenay (WA Dep of Ag) Ms Golda Munro (SA Dep of Ag), Mr Vin Badham (Dep of Ag Vic), Mr David Heponstall (Dep of Ag NSW), Mr E Wickham (Tas Herd Imp Org). Mr Stubbs convened this meeting.

The herd recording centres reformed dramatically in the time of ADHIS with: the end of government involvement, the restructure of the Herd Improvement Organisation (HIO), testing for protein and cell count on every test, substantial mergers and reform and decentralised computer facilities. The support for ADHIS from this sector has been one of the major factors in the long-term success of the project. This relationship continues today under a Memorandum of Understanding, developed in 1999.

The first ABV’s were released in April 1983. They were actually called January ABV’s because of the data set on which they were based.

ABV’s for milk, fat, fat %, protein and protein % were released. Some bulls did not have breeding values for protein traits as protein testing was in its early days.

The number 1 fat bull was Wangaruka Rebo however Baron Vale Starlite was the number 1 available bull.

For the first two years of operation, ADHIS released ABV’s for milk, fat, fat percent, protein and protein percent. However from its inception, the ADHIS board had established committees and plans to implement additional traits of importance.

From the very early meetings there was consideration of type, workability, survival and even fertility. According to the minutes, dollar value indexes were considered from the first release in 1983.

ABV’s for Type were approved in October 1985 and released in 1986. They were initially carried out by ABRI in Armadale, but this service was moved to the Victoian Department of Agriculture in 1988.

Enormous time was devoted to discussions about type ABV’s. This was particularly related to who could provide the service of assessing cattle. Initially the issue related to whether or not AB companies could assess cattle. Eventually the Holstein Friesian Association of Australia (HFAA) was recognised as the sole provider of data for type ABV’s on the basis of their independence and national classifier network.

In October 1989 Australian Jersey Breeders Society (AJBS) and Illawarra Cattle Breeders’ federation (ICBF) were accepted as LTE providers. The AJBS process was a long one, lasting five years from the time of their first request to ADHIS. In that time the AJBS formed a national panel, reducing the number of classifiers from about thirty to ten in the process.

ABV’s for workability traits (Temperament, Milking Speed and Temperament) were approved in 1988 and introduced in 1989.

The Victorian Government Computing Centre was used to carry out the analysis from the establishment of ADHIS until 1997. ADHIS only had access to the computer at nighttime as it was used for government duties during the day.

Other constants in the history of ADHIS have been the AB companies, especially VAB and WACOL, now Genetics Australia and Elders, which became RAB Australia and is now ABS Australia. These organisations have been an integral part of the committee processes that have helped shape ADHIS today.

In 1991 the ADHIS Board noted independent semen distributions had be formed for Semex, ABS, Worldwide Sires. Gordon Stewart and Associates was also selling overseas semen and later took up the Alta Genetics distributorship. The Board entered an era in the 1990’s where the politics of Australian versus overseas product needed to be managed and issues such as fees, access to information and advertising codes were raised.

Interbull was another topic that was regularly debated throughout ADHIS history. From the early 1980’s the Board tried in vain to raise the funding and support to firstly join and then participate in Interbull. Eventually funding commenced to allow staff such as Les Jones, Kevin Beard and Mark Jeffries to attend Interbull meetings. In 1997 Australia formally participated in the Interbull production analysis via ADHIS.

Computing technology, coupled with increased funding support from the DRDC, changed the face of ADHIS from the mid-1990’s. The “re-write” project was conceived in 1994 and in 1998 ADHIS produced ABV’s using its own software on its own computing facility (based at Attwood in Melbourne). The ABV computing facilities were updated again in 1999 and 2002. The speed of these facilities was the catalyst for the introduction of multiple ABV releases in 1999, many new services to AB companies, internet based data delivery and several new traits.

Prior to the purchase of ADHIS’ computer, expansion of ADHIS’ services was limited by the need to purchase time on a mainframe computer. After the purchase of ADHIS’ first computer, the marginal cost of computer time was negligible, so ADHIS was able to consider more frequent evaluations. This enabled not only more frequent official releases of ABV's, but confidential evaluations of young bulls (PBV's) could be based on a full data set, rather than a very limited set.

From 1999 ADHIS Pty Ltd retained the revenue gained from the sale of ABV related services. Prior to this, all revenue was returned to the DRDC effectively restricting ADHIS to its grant allocation. With the support of the DRDC, ADHIS entered an era where new services and staff could be developed. For example, since ADHIS was formed in 1982, the minutes recorded the need for extension and training resources. However it was not until 2002, with the resources generated via the retention of ADHIS Pty Ltd funds, that Miss Erica Schelfhorst was appointed with 50% of her time allocated to education and extension.

More About the Board of Management

The original board members were shown above and their contribution in creating ADHIS formed the foundations for ADHIS today. In the next twenty years the ADHIS Board changed gradually with most members serving long terms. In fact, ADHIS has had only thirteen Board members and two chairmen, up until Pat Rowley’s retirement in 2003.

Original board members John Bennett and Bill Pyle attended their last board meetings in 1984. Jack Eggert retired from the board in 1988. These three dairyfarmers had the vision to put state interests aside to ensure that Australia had a world class national genetic evaluation system.

Pat Rowley and Kem Perkins joined the board in 1985. Mr Rowley from Queensland replaced John Bennett and as ADFF Chairman, took over the chair of ADHIS. Pat remained in this position until 2003 and is recognised as an icon of dairy industry farmer representation.

Kem Perkins was from Tasmania and served on the board until 1991.

In October 1988 Mr Ivan Jones joined the Board. Ivan also served as president of the United Dairy Farmers of Victoria (UDV). He remained on the board in 2003 and dairyfarms at Gruyere, east of Melbourne.

In July 1989 Dr Graeme Alexander resigned from the board and was replaced by Jim Miller as the government representative. In 1994, following a recommendation from Jim, it was agreed that there was no longer a need for a representative from the Standing Committee on Agriculture and Resource Management (SCARM).

Mr Max Fehring started on ADHIS Board in August 1991. Max has also served as UDV president and farms at Cohuna in Northern Victoria. He was still serving on the board in 2003.

Professor Ellen Goddard joined the ADHIS Board in 1999 for 18 months. Ellen was appointed as an independent expert to the board and provided valuable input in her short stay. Ellen resigned from the Board as she took up new employment in Canada.

Mr Max Roberts (NSW Farmers’ Dairy Committee President) and Mr Peter Owen (UDV President) joined in August 2001. Max resigned in 2003 to take up a position on the Board of Dairy Australia. Peter was still serving on the board in 2003.


Key Dates

1983 First ABV release for production traits

1986 Type ABV’s released

1987 Fat plus Protein index introduced

1989 ABVc’s for overseas bulls.

1989 Temperament, Milking Speed and Likability ABV’s introduced

1989 Survival ABV’s introduced

1991 Calving Ease ABV’s introduced.

1993 Single analysis and base for Holsteins and red breeds.

1994 Scaling removed from Type ABV’s

1997 Australian Selection Index (ASI) introduced

2000 ABV base for production traits updated

2000 Records In Progress reported

2001 Australian Profit Ranking (APR) introduced

2002 Cell Count ABV’s and Liveweight ABV’s introduced

2003 Daughter Fertility ABV’s and Semen Fertility introduced


Other dates of note

1986 First min-blups distributed to AB companies.

1990 Early release to AB centres.

1992 ABV Focus ’92 Workshop

1993 First consideration to rewrite the ADHIS software onto ADHIS workstation.

1993 ADHIS distributes Selectabull.

1993 Vic Computing privatised purchased by the Hanson Corporation.

1994 Decision made to go ahead with software re-write.

1995 Value-Adding Project conceived.

1996 ADFF and ADHIS’ first website via Farmwide (NFF).

1996 Proposal to restructure ADHIS where ADHIS retains Pty Ltd revenue.

1996 Daughter Location Reports provided to AB companies

1996 Future Directions Conference held.

1997 Restructuring the Advisory Committee.

1998 ADHIS runs ABV on own computer outside Hanson (government computing centre).

1998 ADHIS retains its revenue and gets a three-year funding contract with DRDC.

1998 www.adhis.com.au launched

1998 National Herd Recording Statistics launched

1998 Inaugural Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) signed with Data Processing Centres

1998 ADHIS part of Australian Mastitis Advisory Council (AMAC) and Countdown Downunder Project

1999 Release of inaugural “Australian Dairy Herd Improvement Report” in December in collaboration with the National Herd Improvement Association.

1999 ABV Book changed and eventually discontinued from 2002

1999 Copyright rules adopted and Code of Practice discontinued

1999 ABV’s released in February and July

1999 Contract renewed with Ag Vic services

2000 ABV’s released in February, May and August

2000 Hayley Valentine starts planning the Australian Profit Ranking

2000 The ABV flyer replaces the ABV Poster in 2000

2000 New Horizons Conference held

2001 CRC for Innovative Dairy Products formed

2001 National Livestock Identification Scheme Project

2001 Demand for Australian dairy heifers – international presentations

2002 Contract renewed with AgVic Services

2002 MOU re-signed

2002 On-farm Data Capture project commences

2002 Increased expenditure on education and training.

2003 New Production Index (PI) factors

ADHIS Staff

1982: The first ADHIS scientists were Dr Ian Hopkins, Dr Geoff Robinson, Dr Les Jones.
Les continues to serve as the senior scientist at ADHIS in 2003.

1996 Ms J Hanmer – NASIS Registrar replaced Mr N Maclean.

1987 Inaugural ADHIS Executive Officer, John McQueen became CEO of ADFF and Mark Jeffries, an Agricultural Science graduate from La Trobe University, was appointed as ADHIS Executive Officer. Mark would remain in the job for ten years, leaving in September 1997 to the Livestock Improvement Corporation in New Zealand. Mark now works as the CEO of Meat New Zealand.

1988 Mr Graham Elms – ADHIS Computer Programmer

1989 Dr Kevin Beard graduated from Agricultural Science and went on to do a PHD into a total merit index for the dairy industry. Kevin remains with ADHIS as the senior geneticist.

1989 Mr Peter Ryan provided computer programming expertise over a number of years.

1989 Mrs Desley Waters assisted with secretarial.

1994 Ms Jackie Holmes was appointed as ADHIS secretary.

1994 Dr Phil Bowman commenced project work with ADHIS including the rewriting of the ADHIS database software. Phil is based at Attwood and remains part of the ADHIS project team.

1996 Ms Cheryl Szantyr assisted with administration at William Street.

1996 Miss Tania Armstrong assisted with re-write project from Attwood.

1997 Mrs Sally Bernardo provided administration assistance and became the NASIS registrar.

1997 Mr Robert Poole replaced Mark Jeffries as ADHIS Executive Officer. Robert is a graduate of Agricultural Science from the University of Melbourne and had worked for six years before joining ADHIS.

2000 Mrs Judith Schweitzer joined ADHIS as Information Scientist based at Attwood. Judith had a degree in Computer Science and is based at Attwood as part of the current ADHIS project team.

2002 Dr Mekonnen Haile-Mariom had a 12 month sabbatical with ADHIS as a research geneticist based at Attwood and worked on estimation of parameters.

2003 Miss Erica Schelfhorst joined ADHIS as Extension, Training and Projects Manager. Erica is a graduate of Agricultural Science from La Trobe and previously worked in Western Australia.