SeekSire Cattle Parentage utilises a SNP (Single Nucleotide Polymorphism) panel consisting of approximately 500 SNPs to determine the parentage of calves – that is linking a calf to its dam and/or sire – from a list of potential sires and dams that are provided as being possible parents.

SeekSire Cattle Parentage is available for all cattle breeds and is suitable for both commercial and seedstock operations. SeekSire Cattle Parentage can be ordered as either a standalone test, or in association with one of Neogen Australasia’s breed specific genomic test bundles.

SeekSire Cattle Parentage takes the guesswork out of assigning parentage, increases the accuracy of pedigree information, and saves valuable time traditionally spent tagging calves at birth, or mothering up at marking.

SeekSire Cattle Parentage is particularly useful for:

• assigning pedigree when parentage can not be determined via other methods;
• reducing the pedigree errors associated with traditional parentage assignment practices;
• identifying which calves from multi-sire groups belong to specific bulls;
• confirming the parentage of accelerated reproductive programs (i.e. embryo transfer and AI calves);
• finding sires that are more/less dominant, or with the most or least calves;
• identifying sires causing calving difficulties, or genetic abnormalities;
• seeing which bulls are siring the best heifers;
• removing any parentage errors associated with mismothering;
• increasing the accuracy of breeding values.

SeekSire Cattle Parentage requires a genomic profile for both the animal and its parents, so a parentage result can only be provided for animals if their parents have also been tested with SeekSire Cattle Parentage, or have another suitable genomic profile available.