Next week genomic researchers from around the world are meeting in Calgary for Beef Innovations 2013.
Topics include genomic links to everything from fertility to beef tenderness. But there are several researchers covering genetics and feed efficiency.
One of those researchers is Dr. Bob Weaber of Kansas State University.
Weaber and his colleagues are in the middle of a five year, $5 million project that includes 24 seedstock producers and a commercial feedlot. Two-thirds of the project covers research and the other third is dedicated to extension.
Researchers are pulling DNA samples from 10,000 cattle representing eight beef breeds, including Angus, Red Angus, Simmental, Gelbvieh, Charolais, Hereford, Wagyu and Limousin.
Weaber told delegates at the 2012 International Committee for Animal Recording in Ireland that he and his colleagues are trying to identify markers that work across breeds, when possible.
“And certainly one of the things we’re trying to do is understand a bit more the interaction between diet–energy density, specifically–and genotype.”
They’re also studying microbial populations, genes affecting metabolism, differences linked to mitochondrial and nuclear genomes, and analyzing high and low RFI cattle in detail.