Qualifications

2000 Doctor of Philosophy, University of New England, Armidale, Australia.
Thesis: The estimation and utilisation of variation in fibre diameter profile characteristics between sheep.

1995 Bachelor of Applied Science - Rural Technology (1^st Class Honours), University of Queensland, Australia.
Major: Animal Production

Awards

1995 University Medal for Outstanding Scholarship during B. App. Sci. (Rural Tech), University of Queensland, Australia.

Main Research Interests

I perform the monthly runs of the OVIS software that has been developed by AGBU to generate EBVs for LAMBPLAN. I am also working on the further development of the OVIS software and the estimation of a range of parameters that will improve the performance of the OVIS software.

Research Interests

The influence of the rumen fermentation modifiers, Monensin and Narasin on liveweight gain and wool production in Merino sheep.
The estimation and utilisation of variation in fibre diameter profile characteristics between sheep.

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 an 100 doe rabbit farm.

Selected 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.

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.

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.