The third workshop in the Breeding Focus series was held in Armidale in September 2018 and looked at reducing heat stress in livestock, plants and aquaculture. The physiological and economic consequences of heat stress and strategies to reduce the impact of heat stress were presented.

Topics presented at the workshop have been published as a book "Breeding Focus 2018 – Reducing Heat Stress” which is available for purchase. Abstracts of the papers can be downloaded as can individual chapters.

Chapter 1 Climate, Weather and Water Services for Livestock Industries Jaclyn N. Brown and Alister Hawksford

Chapter 2 Genetic sensitivity of beef cattle to environmental variation Roberto Carvalheiro, Ben J. Hayes, Lucia G. Albuquerque and Stephen Moore

Chapter 3 Towards breeding for heat tolerance and resilience in beef cattle Gene Wijffels, Megan Sullivan, Stephen Anderson, Sally Stockwell, Russell McCulloch, Suzie Briscoe, Joseph Olm, Judy Cawdell-Smith and John Gaughan

Chapter 4 Heat stress impacts and responses in livestock production Rachelle Meyer, Ann-Maree Graham and Richard Eckard

Chapter 5 Summer mortality in molluscs: the genetic basis for resilience and susceptibility Brett P. Shiel, Ira R. Cooke, Nathan E. Hall, Nicholas A. Robinson and Jan M. Strugnell

Chapter 6 Addressing heat stress in pome fruit Rebecca Darbyshire, Ian Goodwin, Lexie McClymont and Susanna Turpin

Chapter 7 The challenge of improving tolerance to heat stress in livestock species Kim L. Bunter, Bethany Bowring and Alison M. Collins

Chapter 8 A tool to breed for heat tolerant dairy cattle Thuy T. T. Nguyen, Josie B. Garner and Jennie E. Pryce

Chapter 9 Turning the heat up on independent culling in crop breeding Wallace A. Cowling and Li Li

Chapter 10 Breeding for reduced seasonal infertility and reduced response to heat stress in sows and boars Annika M. G. Bunz, Kim L. Bunter, Rebecca Morrison, Brian G. Luxford and Susanne Hermesch