News Release 12 October 2006

World first beef feed efficiency test launched

The world's first commercial DNA test for beef cattle feed efficiency was launched at the Australian Lot Feeders Association conference at the Gold Coast on Thursday.

The test incorporates a suite of four independently acting DNA markers for the crucial production trait of converting feed into saleable meat.

GeneSTAR Feed Efficiency 4 will be marketed by Genetic Solutions, the pioneering Brisbane company which has introduced DNA technology as a herd improvement tool to cattle producers around Australia and across the world.

Genetic Solutions managing director Gerard Davis said the new markers isolated by a team of CSIRO Livestock Industries scientists would be hugely significant.

"Being able to identify animals which will deliver superior performance before they go onto a feeding regime will be a real profit driver for the beef industry especially the lot feeding sector," Davis said.

Davis said the feed efficiency markers had undergone rigorous validation prior to commercial release. They were thoroughly performance tested using data from almost 1500 cattle across seven major beef breeds.

"There have been no negative impacts measured on other traits so producers can use the new markers with confidence," Davis said.

The team of CSIRO scientists led by molecular geneticist Bill Barendse succeeded in identifying the new feed efficiency markers after more than 18 months research.

Their work was conducted in collaboration with the Cooperative Research Centre for Cattle and Beef Quality, Meat and Livestock Australia and commercial partner Genetic Solutions.

Barendse said scientists had scanned the whole bovine genome in their search for markers influencing feed efficiency before narrowing down to the four that comprise the new test.

Further work is underway with the new Cooperative Research Centre for Beef Genetic Technologies to identify more markers for this important trait.

Barendse said feed conversion efficiency was a complex trait with overall performance influenced by a number of factors including the animal s metabolism, growth rate, body mass and appetite.

"By coming up with a number of markers relating to feed efficiency, the result will be very meaningful for livestock producers."

"The ability to extract the maximum amount of meat from a kilo of feed is a significant profit driver for the beef industry," Barendse said.

Davis said the launch of the new feed efficiency test coincided with the introduction of a fourth GeneSTAR Marbling marker.

"We now have available 12 markers influencing three key production traits -- beef feed conversion, marbling and tenderness which will be packaged together."

"There is nothing like this available anywhere else in the world. The future of progressive beef cattle breeding and production using DNA technology has arrived," Davis said.

For more information

Please contact Gerard Davis at Genetic Solutions on +617 3633 3555 or +61 413 049 478.