Research team to ID genetic tools to boost cattle growth

Nov 21, 2023

Nebraska scientists have begun a federally funded study to deepen the understanding of links between genetics and cattle growth efficiency. The project has significant potential to expand the range of genetic tools used by breeders.

The study will focus on cattle’s mitochondria, cell components whose biochemical activity produces most of the body’s energy for cell function, according to a University of Nebraska news release.

Breeders use a variety of genetic data for their operations, but information from the mitochondrial genome of an animal is largely ignored. In this project, a five-person team of University of Nebraska-Lincoln faculty and graduate students will aim to determine how variation in cattle’s mitochondrial genomes affects overall efficiency in animal growth.

As a result, said Jessica Petersen, associate professor of animal science, “Information on mitochondrial genotype will serve as a new tool for the selection of the most energy-efficient cows.” Those cows, in turn, “will produce calves with the same desirable mitochondrial genotype.”

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Video: Evolution of Beef Cattle Farming

The Clear Conversations podcast took to the road for a special episode recorded in Nashville during CattleCon, bringing listeners straight into the heart of the cattle industry. Host Tracy Sellers welcomed rancher Steve Wooten of Beatty Canyon Ranch in Colorado for a wide-ranging discussion that blended family history and sustainability, particularly as it relates to the future of beef production.

Sustainability emerged as a central theme of the conversation, a word that Wooten acknowledges can mean very different things depending on who you ask. For him, sustainability starts with the soil. Healthy soil produces healthy grass, which supports efficient cattle capable of producing year after year with minimal external inputs. It’s an approach that equally considers vegetation, animal efficiency, and long-term profitability.

That philosophy aligned naturally with Wooten’s involvement in the U.S. Roundtable for Sustainable Beef, where he served as a representative for the Colorado Cattlemen’s Association. The roundtable brings together the entire beef supply chain—from producers to retailers—along with universities, NGOs, and allied industries. Its goal is not regulation, Wooten emphasized, but collaboration, shared learning, and continuous improvement.