The idea of sustainability is a pretty broad topic. One could focus on production economics or reproduction, or feed and nutrition, but specific to the cow-calf segment of the industry, Jason Warner, K-State Cow-Calf Specialist, suggests the importance of genetics and genetic selection.
Warner recently spoke with Megan Rolf, K-State Professor of Animal Breeding and Genetics and Elizabeth Dressler, Ph.D. student in Animal Breeding and Genetics about how genetic tools help in this area.
“One of the great things I think about genetic selection and how it addresses sustainability is it lets us get at a few different types of traits that would be really difficult to do without having those EPDs and other genetic selection tools,” Rolf says. “A great example is longevity related traits like the stayability EPD or functional longevity, and sustained cow fertility.
“Genetics can play a role in getting at some of those traits that are important to sustainability, but difficult to get at without those genetic selection tools,” she adds.
Looking more broadly at sustainability, Rolf recommends thinking about three pillars, including economics, social implications and environmental implications.
“Fertility can play a big role in the longevity of those animals because when they stay in the herd longer, the producer has the ability to have more time to recoup the cost they spend in developing those females into cows,” Rolf says.
“I think the beef industry and our breed associations have done a good job of taking opportunities to develop new traits and new ways to do genetic evaluation that give our producers a variety of different tools to be able to tackle the traits that affect the sustainability of their operation,” she adds.
Warner points out the topic of emissions with beef cattle production often comes up for discussion.
“When we produce methane from cattle it’s a loss in the gross energy value of the feed, so energy from those feeds is being converted into methane instead of being used for the productivity of the animal,” Rolf says.
Rolf would like to see genetic selections tools that could potentially address methane, but also give a value for metabolic rate of the animal. This would help producers look at maintenance energy demand from the cow herd.
As a Ph.D. student, Dressler’s research focuses on using a GreenFeed system, which measures gas fluxes of Methane, Carbon Dioxide, Oxygen and Hydrogen from individual animals.
“What’s really nice about the GreenFeed is that it is portable, and we can take it out to pastures that are more remote and get those quantifications on grazing animals,” Dressler says. “Getting accurate quantification of how much methane is actually being produced is super important and will be needed in the future when we do start to think about what those exact tools are that we’re going to think about developing.”
For more information on how genetics can impact and influence your operation, visit ksubeef.org.
