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ClosedAgriculture & Agri-food

Development and deployment of MBVs/gEPDs for feed efficiency and carcass traits that perform in commercial beef cattle

PROJECT LEAD(S)/CO-LEAD(S) John Basarab (University of Alberta), Donagh Berry (Animal and Grassland Research & Innovation Centre. Teagasc), & John Crowley (Livestock Gentec and Canadian Beef Breeds Council)
COMPETITION/ FUNDING OPPORTUNITY Genome Alberta/Government of Alberta
PROJECT START DATE October 1, 2015
PROJECT END DATE September 30, 2019
ALBERTA’S ROLE Lead

The Canadian beef industry contributes more than $20B annually to the national economy, yet is challenged to remain globally competitive, use resources efficiently, and address human health concerns, climate change and environmental sustainability. This project will drive the adoption of genomic tools in the Canadian beef industry by generating more accurate breeding values in order to improve traits related to, in particular, carcass quality and feed efficiency, also shown to have a marked effect on cattle methane emissions. The international beef genomics community and domestic end-users will be engaged to develop the requisite tools and strategies for improving the accuracy of genomic prediction that perform well for the commercial cattle industry. It is anticipated that this project will grow the Canadian beef industry’s profitability by $214M when annualized over 15 years, owing to better selection for more productive and efficient cattle. Application of the genomic tools developed in this project will facilitate the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions and environmental impact of cattle, while improving industry sustainability and food security.

 

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