Dr Daniel Brown
Principal Scientist - Animal Genetics and Breeding Unit (AGBU)
Biography
Daniel Brown is a Principal Scientist at the Animal Genetics and Breeding Unit at UNE in Armidale. He is part of a team which has been responsible for the routine estimation of Australian Sheep Breeding Values (ASBVs) for Sheep Genetics to deliver to ram breeders as well as the ongoing research and development of the genetic evaluation system. Daniel has been working in this role for nearly 23 years with the primary focus on the genetic improvement of sheep. He is also a program leader for the Advanced Livestock Measurement Technologies project aiming to develop objective measurement technologies to collect lean meat yield and eating quality data from commercial supply chains. Daniel also owns and operate a small sheep and beef operation with his family in their spare time.
Qualifications
2000 Doctor of Philosophy, University of New England, Australia.
Thesis: The estimation and utilisation of variation in fibre diameter profile characteristics between sheep.
1995 Bachelor of Applied Science - Rural Technology (1st Class Honours), University of Queensland, Australia.
Major: Animal Production
Research Interests
All aspects of genetic improvement of sheep, with a focus on the research and development of the OVIS software package. OVIS is used to estimate Australian Sheep Breeding values (ASBVs) for publication by Sheep Genetics.
Publications
Some of these papers are available here as PDF files for further reading. For those that are not, feel free to email me for more information.
2014
Bird-Gardiner, T L; Brown, D J; Smith, J L; Mortimer, S I and Refshauge, G (2014). “Breech strike indicator traits for Merino sheep in non-seasonal rainfall environments.” In Proceedings of the 10th World Congress on Genetics Applied to Livestock Production, Vancouver, Canada, 17-22 August. Paper 891.
Brown, D J and Swan, A A (2014). “Genetic analysis of adult body weight and condition scores in Merino sheep.” In Proceedings of the 10th World Congress on Genetics Applied to Livestock Production, Vancouver, Canada, 17-22 August. Paper 907.
Clark, S A; Brown, D J and van der Werf, J H J (2014). The effect of using genomic breeding values to manage the loss in response to selection caused by genotype by environment interactions.” In Proceedings of the 10th World Congress on Genetics Applied to Livestock Production, Vancouver, Canada, 17-22 August. Paper 409.
Daetwyler, HD; Bolormaa, S; Kemper, K E; Brown, D J; Swan, A A; van der Werf, J H J and Hayes, B J (2014). “Using genomics to improve reproduction traits in sheep.” In Proceedings of the 10th World Congress on Genetics Applied to Livestock Production, Vancouver, Canada, 17-22 August. Paper 156.
Mortimer, S I; Swan, A A; Brown, D J and van der Werf, J H J (2014). “Genetic parameters revisited for ultrasound scanning traits in Australian sheep.” In Proceedings of the 10th World Congress on Genetics Applied to Livestock Production, Vancouver, Canada, 17-22 August. Paper 345.
Newton, J E; Brown, D J; Swan, A A; Dominik, S and van der Werf, J H J (2014). “Effects of selection accuracy, risk and young ewe fertility on breeding program design.” In Proceedings of the 10th World Congress on Genetics Applied to Livestock Production, Vancouver, Canada, 17-22 August. Paper 912.
Swan, A A; Brown, D J; Daetwyler, H D; Hayes, B J; Kelly, M; Moghaddar, N and van der Werf, J H J (2014). “Genomic evaluations in the Australian sheep industry.” In Proceedings of the 10th World Congress on Genetics Applied to Livestock Production, Vancouver, Canada, 17-22 August. Paper 334.
Brown, D J; Jones, R M and Hinch, G N (2014). “Genetic parameters for lamb autopsy traits.” Animal Production Science 54 (6):736-744 doi: org/10.1071/AN13227.
Huisman, A E; Brown, D J and Fogarty, N M (2014). “Ability of sire breeding values to predict progeny bodyweight, fat and muscle using various transformations across environments in terminal sire sheep breeds.” Animal Production Science doi.org/10.1071/AN14666.
Newton, J E; Brown, D J; Dominik, S and van der Werf, J H J (2014). “Genetic and phenotypic correlations between yearling, hogget and adult reproductive performance and age of first oestrus in the ewe progeny of the Information Nucleus Flock.“ Animal Production Science 54 (6):753-761 doi: org/10.1071/AN13245.
2013
Bird-Gardiner, T L; Brown, D J; Smith, J L and Mortimer, S I (2013). “Inheritance of flystrike recorded in a non-seasonal rainfall environment.” Proc. Assoc. Advmt. Anim. Breed. Genet. Napier, New Zealand, July 20-23. 20:183-186.
Brown, D J; Swan, A A; Gill, J S and Banks, R B (2013). “Strategies to objectively group merino flocks in sheep genetics.” Proc. Assoc. Advmt. Anim. Breed. Genet. Napier, New Zealand, July 20-23. 20:66-69.
Brown, D J; Swan, A A and Gill, J S (2013). “Genetic correlations across ages for greasy fleece weight and fibre diameter in Merino sheep.” Proc. Assoc. Advmt. Anim. Breed. Genet. Napier, New Zealand, July 20-23. 20:110-113.
Bunter, K L and Brown, D J (2013). “Yearling and adult expressions of reproduction in maternal sheep breeds are genetically different traits.” Proc. Assoc. Advmt. Anim. Breed. Genet. Napier, New Zealand, July 20-23. 20:82-85.
Daetwyler, H D; Bolormaa, S; Brown, D J; van der Werf, J H J and Hayes, B J (2013). “A genomic prediction cross-validation approach combining ewe repeated phenotypes and ram daughter trait deviations.” Proc. Assoc. Advmt. Anim. Breed. Genet. Napier, New Zealand, July 20-23. 20:360-363.
Li, L; Brown, D J and Gill, J S (2013). “Genetic parameters for body weight, carcass and wool traits in Dohne Merino.” Proc. Assoc. Advmt. Anim. Breed. Genet. Napier, New Zealand, July 20-23. 20:241-244.
Newton, J E; Brown, D J; Dominik, S and van der Werf, J H J (2013). “Age at first oestrus. A useful trait for early reproductive performance?” Proc. Assoc. Advmt. Anim. Breed. Genet. Napier, New Zealand, July 20-23. 20:86-89.
Swan, A A and Brown, D J (2013). “The impact of measuring adult fleece traits with genomic selection on economic gain in merino selection indexes.” Proc. Assoc. Advmt. Anim. Breed. Genet. Napier, New Zealand, July 20-23. 20:233-236.
van der Werf, J H J; Brown, D J and Swan A A (2013). “Prediction of genomic breeding values across genetic groups.” Proc. Assoc. Advmt. Anim. Breed. Genet. Napier, New Zealand, July 20-23. 20:340-343.
2012
Maximini L; Brown D J; Baumung, R and Fuerst-Waltl, B (2012). “Genetic parameters of ultrasound and computer tomography scan traits in Austrian meat sheep.” Livestock Science 146 (2-3):168-174 doi: org/10.1016/j.livsci.2012.03.007.
Swan, A A; Johnston, D J; Brown, D J; Tier, B and Graser, H-U (2012). “Integration of genomic information into beef cattle and sheep genetic evaluations in Australia.” Animal Production Science 52 (3):126-132 doi.org/10.1071/AN11117.
2011
Ball, A J; Banks, R B; Brown, D J and Field, S R (2011). “Genetic progress in Australian young sire programs: A model for increasing the rate of genetic improvement.” Proceedings of the 19th Conference of the Association for the Advancement of Animal Breeding and Genetics. Perth, Western Australia. July 19 - 21. pp.403-406.
Brien, F D; Hinch, G N; van der Werf, J H J; Brown, D J and Swan, A A (2011). “Selection strategies for the genetic improvement of reproductive performance in sheep.” Proceedings of the 19th Conference of the Association for the Advancement of Animal Breeding and Genetics. Perth, Western Australia. July 19 - 21. pp.151-158.
Brown, D J; Swan, A A and Mortimer, M L (2011). “Pedigree matchmaker: Can it tell us more than just pedigree?” Proceedings of the 19th Conference of the Association for the Advancement of Animal Breeding and Genetics. Perth, Western Australia. July 19 - 21. pp.231-234.
Maximini, L; Brown, D J and Fuerst-Waltl B (2011). “Genetic parameters for live weight, ultrasound scan traits and muscling scores in Austrian meat sheep.” EAAP (Ed.) Book of Abstracts of the 62nd Annual Meeting of the European Federation of Animal Science, Stavanger (NOR), August 29 – September 2. Book of Abstracts No. 17: 345.
Swan, A A; Brown, D J; Tier, B and van der Werf, J (2011). “Use of genomic information to estimate breeding values for carcass traits in sheep.” Proceedings of the 19th Conference of the Association for the Advancement of Animal Breeding and Genetics. Perth, Western Australia. July 19 - 21. pp.331-334.
Swan, A A; Johnston, D J; Brown, D J; Tier, B and Graser, H-U (2011). “Integration of genomic information into beef cattle and sheep genetic evaluations in Australia.” Animal Production Science doi.org/10.1071/AN11117.
2010
Greeff, J; Kinghorn, B P and Brown, D J (2010). Breeding and Selection in International Sheep and Wool Handbook, Cottle, D J (Ed). Nottingham University Press.
Brown, D J; Swan, A A and Graser, H-U (2010). “Genetic relationships between indicator traits for fly strike resistance and production traits in Merino sheep.” Proceedings of the 9th World Congr. Genet. Appl. Livest. Prod. Leipzig, Germany, 1-6 August.
Brown, D J; Swan, A A and Gill, J S (2010). “Within- and across-flock genetic relationships for breech flystrike resistance indicator traits”. Animal Production Science 50:1060-1068.
2009
Banks, R G; Brown, D J and Field, S R (2009). “Meta-analysis of cross-bred progeny data for Australian terminal sire sheep.” Proceedings of the 18th Conference of the Association for the Advancement of Animal Breeding and Genetics. Barossa Valley, South Australia. September 28-October 1. pp.480-483.
Brown, D J; Swan, A A; Johnston, D J and Graser, H-U (2009). “Sire by flock-year interactions for body weight in Poll Dorset sheep.” Proceedings of the 18th Conference of the Association for the Advancement of Animal Breeding and Genetics. Barossa Valley, South Australia. September 28-October 1. pp.48-51.
Swan, A A; Brown, D J and Banks, R G (2009). “Genetic progress in the Australian Sheep Industry.” Proceedings of the 18th Conference of the Association for the Advancement of Animal Breeding and Genetics. Barossa Valley, South Australia. September 28-October 1. pp.326-329.
Whelan, M B; Cottle, D J; Geenty, K G and Brown, D J (2009). “Classifying sheep grazing environments using satellite data to quantify genotype by environment interactions.” Proceedings of the 18th Conference of the Association for the Advancement of Animal Breeding and Genetics. Barossa Valley, South Australia. September 28-October 1. pp.52-55.
Young, M J; Newman, S-A N; Apps, R and Brown, D J (2009). “Trans-Tasman genetic evaluations of sheep – spreading the net wider.” Proceedings of the New Zealand Society of Animal Production. Barossa Valley, New Zealand. June. pp.158-161.
Banks, R G and Brown, D J (2009). ‘Genetic improvement in the Australasian Merino – management of a diverse gene pool for changing markets.” Animal Genetic Resources Information 45:29-36.
Huisman, A E and Brown, D J (2009). “Genetic parameters for bodyweight, wool and disease resistance and reproduction traits in Merino sheep. 3. Genetic relationships between ultrasound scan traits and other traits.” Animal Production Science 49:283-288.
Huisman, A E and Brown, D J (2009). “Genetic parameters for bodyweight, wool and disease resistance and reproduction traits in Merino sheep. 4. Genetic relationships between and within wool traits.” Animal Production Science 49:289-296.
pre -2009
Brown, D J (2007). “Variance components for lambing ease and gestation length in sheep.” Proceedings of the 17th Conference of the Association for the Advancement of Animal Breeding and Genetics. Armidale, Australia. September 24-26. pp.268-271.
Brown D J; Huisman, A E; Swan, A A; Graser, H-U; Woolaston, R R; Ball, A J; Atkins, K D and Banks, R G (2007). “Genetic evaluation for the Australian sheep industry.” Proceedings of the 17th Conference of the Association for the Advancement of Animal Breeding and Genetics. Armidale, Australia. September 24-26. pp.187-194.
Huisman, A E and Brown, D J (2007). “What genetic group structure to fit? A Bayesian approach applied to yearling worm egg count data in Merino sheep.” Proceedings of the 17th Conference of the Association for the Advancement of Animal Breeding and Genetics. Armidale, Australia. September 24-26. pp.399-402.
Johnston, D J; Brown, D J and Graser, H-U (2007). “The effect of age slicing interval on the variance components and data effectiveness for birth and 200day weights in Angus cattle.” Proceedings of the 17th Conference of the Association for the Advancement of Animal Breeding and Genetics. Armidale, Australia. September 24-26. pp.344-347.
Khusro, M; Brown, D J; Graser, H-U and Tier, B (2007). “The effect of linkage and flock size on the accuracy of estimated genetic group effects.” Proceedings of the 17th Conference of the Association for the Advancement of Animal Breeding and Genetics. Armidale, Australia. September 24-26. pp.545-548.
Swan, A A and Brown, D J (2007). “A simple bootstrapping procedure to validate the MERINOSELECT model for weaning weight.” Proceedings of the 17th Conference of the Association for the Advancement of Animal Breeding and Genetics. Armidale, Australia. September 24-26. pp.395-398.
Brown, D.J. (2006). “Genetic aspects of greasy wool colour assessments in Merino sheep.” International Journal of Sheep and Wool Science 54(3): 1-16.
Huisman, A.E.; Tier, B. and Brown, D.J. (2006). "On assessing contrasts between groups of animals." Livestock Science 104(3): 254-267.
Brown, D.J.; Ball, A.J.; Huisman, A.E.; Swan, A.A.; Atkins, R.D.; Graser, H.-U.; Banks, R.; Swan, P. and Woolaston, R.R. (2006). "Sheep Genetics Australia: A national genetic evaluation system for Australian sheep." Proceedings of the 8th World Congr. Genet. Appl. Livest. Prod. Belo Horizonte, Brazil, 13-18 August. P. 05-03.
Huisman, A.E. and Brown, D.J. (2006). "Predictive ability of sire weaning weight breeding values estimated across environments in terminal sire sheep breeds." Proceedings of the 8th World Congr. Genet. Appl. Livest. Prod. Belo Horizonte, Brazil, 13-18 August. P. 04-07.
Brown, D.J. and Crook, B.J. (2005). "Environmental responsiveness of fibre diameter in grazing fine wool Merino sheep." Aust. J Agric Research 56(7): 673-684.
Brown, D.J.; Atkins, K. and Huisman, A.E. (2005). "Expression of body weight, fleece weight and fibre diameter in across flock genetic evaluation." In Proceedings of the 16th Conference of the Association for the Advancement of Animal Breeding and Genetics. Noosa, Australia. September 25-28. pp.84-87.
Brown, D.J.; Ball, A. and Huisman, A.E. (2005). "The influence of ewe weight at mating on lamb performance and reproduction of the ewe." In Proceedings of the 16th Conference of the Association for the Advancement of Animal Breeding and Genetics. Noosa, Australia. September 25-28. pp.306-309.
Brown, D.J. and Fozi, M.A. (2005). "Genetic parameters for body weight and carcase traits in Australian based south African meat Merino sheep." In Proceedings of the 16th Conference of the Association for the Advancement of Animal Breeding and Genetics. Noosa, Australia. September 25-28. pp.310-313.
Huisman, A.E. and Brown, D.J. (2005). "Genetic parameters for ultrasound scan and wool traits at yearling and hogget age in Merino sheep." In Proceedings of the 16th Conference of the Association for the Advancement of Animal Breeding and Genetics. Noosa, Australia. September 25-28. pp.32-35.
Huisman, A.E.; Tier, B. and Brown, D.J. (2005). "Multiple trait linkage across flocks." In Proceedings of the 16th Conference of the Association for the Advancement of Animal Breeding and Genetics. Noosa, Australia. September 25-28. pp.250-253.
Ingham, V.M.; Fogarty, N.M.; Gilmour, A.R.; Brown, D.J.; Cummins, L.J.; Gaunt, G.M.; Stafford, J. and Hocking Edwards, J.E. (2005). "Relationships between LAMBPLAN EBVS for rams and post weaning performance of their crossbred progeny." In Proceedings of the 16th Conference of the Association for the Advancement of Animal Breeding and Genetics. Noosa, Australia. September 25-28. pp.227-230.
Khusro, M.; Brown, D.J.; Van der Werf, J.H.J. and Graser, H.-U. (2005). "Breed differences and crossbreeding effects in Australian meat sheep breeds." In Proceedings of the 16th Conference of the Association for the Advancement of Animal Breeding and Genetics. Noosa, Australia. September 25-28. pp.231-234.
Khusro, M.; Van der Werf, J.H.J.; Brown, D.J. and Ball, A. (2004). Across flock (co)variance components for faecal worm egg count, live weight, and fleece traits for Australian merinos.Livest Prod Sci . 91(1-2):35-43.
Apps, R.; Brown, D.J.; Ball, A.; Banks, R. and Field, S. (2003). Genetic opportunities to improve lamb weaning rates in Merinos. In Proceedings of the 15th Conference of the Association for the Advancement of Animal Breeding and Genetics. Melbourne, Vic. pp. 249-252.
Brash, L.D.; Barwick, S.A. and Brown, D.J. (2003). The impact of recording performance criteria on index accuracy in terminal sire sheep breeds for a range of breeding objectives. In Proceedings of the 15th Conference of the Association for the Advancement of Animal Breeding and Genetics. Melbourne, Vic. pp. 257-260.
Brown, D.J. and Tier, B. (2003). Alternate methods for estimating breeding values for faecal egg count data from merino studs across Australia. In Proceedings of the 15th Conference of the Association for the Advancement of Animal Breeding and Genetics. Melbourne, Vic. pp. 115-118.
Clarke, B.E.; Brown, D.J. and Ball, A.J. (2003). Preliminary genetic parameters for live weight and ultrasound scan traits in Merinos. In Proceedings of the 15th Conference of the Association for the Advancement of Animal Breeding and Genetics. Melbourne, Vic. pp. 326-329.
Brown, D.J.; Ball, A.; Mortimer, R. and Oppenheimer. M (2002). Incorporating subjectively assessed sheep wool traits into genetic evaluations for Merino sheep 1: Phenotypic variation and heritabilities. Wool Technology and Breeding 50(3), 373-377.
Brown, D.J.; Ball, A.; Mortimer, R. and Oppenheimer. M (2002). Incorporating subjectively assessed sheep wool traits into genetic evaluations for Merino sheep 2: Phenotypic and genetic correlations. Wool Technology and Breeding 50(3), 378-382.
Brown, D.J. and Reverter, A. (2002). The use of weaning weight to adjust for pre-weaning environmental effects on body weight, fleece weight and fibre diameter in Merino hoggets. Proceedings 7th World Congress on Genetics Applied to Livestock Production, Vol 31, 529-532. Montpellier, France.
Brown, D.J. and Schlink, A.J. (2002). A comparison of fibre diameter profiles generated using 2 mm snippet techniques to those measured using the OFDA2000, Wool Technology and Sheep Breeding 50(1), 27-39.
Brown, D.J. and Reverter, A. (2002). A comparison of methods to pre-adjust data for systematic environmental effects in genetic evaluation of sheep, Livestock Production Science, 75(3), 281-291.
Brown D.J.; Crook B.J. and Purvis I.W. (2002). Differences in fibre diameter profile characteristics and their relationship with staple strength between years, environments and bloodlines, Australian Journal of Agricultural Research, 53(4) 481-491.
Brown, D.J.; Tier, B. and Ball, A.J. (2001). What does OVIS offer the Merino Breeder? Proceedings of the Association for the Advancement of Animal Breeding and Genetics 14, 525-528.
Brown, D.J.;Tier, B. and Banks, R.B. (2001). Implications of data quality on the accuracy of estimated breeding values for weaning weight in sheep, Proceedings of the Association for the Advancement of Animal Breeding and Genetics 14, 441-444.
Brown, D.J.; Tier, B.; Reverter, A.; Ball, A.J. and Banks, R.B. (2001). Genetic parameters for liveweight, wool growth and litter size and the associations among these traits in Corriedale sheep, Proceedings of the Association for the Advancement of Animal Breeding and Genetics 14, 119-122.
Brown, D.J.; Reverter, A. and Tier, B. (2001). Influence of environmental factors and trait representation on the genetic evaluation of reproductive traits in sheep, Proceedings of the Association for the Advancement of Animal Breeding and Genetics 14, 131-134.
Ball, A.J.; Brown, D.J.; Spiker, S.A.; Field, S.R. and Banks, R.B. (2001). KIDPLAN – opportunities for genetic development of the Boer goat in Australia, Proceedings of the Association for the Advancement of Animal Breeding and Genetics 14, 445-448.
Reverter, A.; Brown, D.J. and Tier, B. (2001). PARITIES: A software to simulate number of individuals born for multiparous species, Proceedings of the Association for the Advancement of Animal Breeding and Genetics 14, 389-392.
Brown D.J. and Crook B.J. (2001). Determinants of environmental responsiveness of fibre diameter in grazing fine wool Merino sheep Australian Journal of Agricultural Research (Submitted).
Brown, D.J.; Wolcott, M.L. and Crook, B.J. (2001). The measurement of skin thickness in Merino sheep using real time ultrasound, Wool Technology and Sheep Breeding, 48(4), 269-276.
Brown, D.J. (2000). " The estimation and utilisation of variation in fibre diameter profile characteristics between sheep." PhD Thesis, The University of New Engalnd, Armidale, Australia.
Brown, D.J.; Crook, B.J. and Purvis, I.W. (2000). The estimation of fibre diameter profile characteristics using reduced profiling techniques, Wool Technology and Sheep Breeding 48(1), 1-14.
Brown, D.J.; Crook, B.J. and Purvis, I.W. (2000). Variation in fibre diameter profile characteristics between wool staples in Merino sheep, Wool Technology and Sheep Breeding 48(2), 86-93.
Brown, D.J.; Tier, B.; Reverter, A.; Banks, R. and Graser, H.U. (2000). OVIS: A multiple trait breeding value estimation program for genetic evaluation of sheep, Wool Technology and Sheep Breeding, 48(4), 285-297.
Brown, D.J.; Schlink, A.J. and Crook, B.J. (2000). Methods for estimating fibre length and diameter in wool staples, Wool Technology and Sheep Breeding 47(3),170-183.
Brown, D.J.; Crook, B.J. and Purvis, I.W. (1999). Genotype and environmental differences in fibre diameter profile characteristics and their relationship with staple strength in Merino sheep, Proceedings of the Association for the Advancement of Animal Breeding and Genetics 13, 274-277.
Brown, D.J. and Murray, P.J. (1998). The influence of the rumen fermentation modifiers Monensin and Narasin on liveweight gain and wool production in Merino sheep, Proceedings of the Australian Society of Animal Production, 22, 418.
Brown, D.J. (1995). "The influence of the rumen fermentation modifiers, Monensin and Narasin on liveweight gain and wool production in Merino sheep." Thesis Submitted as part of Bachelor of Applied Science. University of Queensland.
External Profiles
Further Information
Other Interests
Rabbit breeding and genetics including the development of genetic evaluation systems for the Australian meat rabbit industry.
Managing my own fine wool sheep enterprise and a 100 doe rabbit farm.
