Genomics Offer One Of The Keys To Producing More Beef And Better Beef

The tools are in place for the Beef Cattle Industry to help feed the expanding world population in the years to come. So says the COO and Director of Breed Improvement for the American Hereford Association, Jack Ward. Ward told Radio Oklahoma Ag Network's Ron Hays at the recent Oklahoma Youth Expo that animal agriculture will have to play a big role in providing high quality protein in the diets of the global population that is expected to double by 2050 or soon thereafter.

For the beef industry, Ward contends the tools are in place, especially the DNA component, the will allow cattle producers to exploit the full capability of their animals in producing beef. Ward points out that the generational turns are slower in cattle versus the pork and poultry sectors so "it becomes even more imperative and more important that we use as many tools as we can to make the right kind of educated decisions to move our genetics in the right direction.