The Neogen genomics division has launched the latest update for Igenity Beef — the company’s flagship commercial genomic profile. Designed for commercial cow-calf producers, Igenity Beef is a genomic selection tool that delivers one to 10 scores for now 18 traits, providing insight into maternal, health, performance and carcass characteristics, and parentage verification.
New deliverables include a BRD score, Sustainability Index and Sustainability Extra Dollars and Methane Emission Intensity Index (MEII). The test includes breed composition through BreedSeek, a measurable heterosis score with Envigor and a Days on Feed Index.
With these enhancements, Igenity Beef helps producers tackle key industry challenges — including bovine respiratory disease (BRD), advancing efficiency and sustainability, and more.
“We are shifting BRD management from reactive to proactive,” says Tom Schultz, Neogen head of global commercial genomics. “For decades, the industry has worked to reduce BRD risk. With Igenity Beef, producers have the clarity to help breed around it and maximize commercial herd potential.”
Igenity Beef Enhancements Drive Value for Producers
1. BRD Score
The BRD trait is now included with Igenity Beef results — an impactful addition for the industry. This impact drives the industry forward by breeding around the risk, which poses significant economic impact on the industry.
“Over 55% of calf mortality is due to pneumonia or bovine respiratory disease. While there is reduced risk in breeding-age cattle, we’re still looking at over 12% of mortality caused by respiratory disease,” says Dr Kirk Ramsey, Neogen professional services veterinarian. “There is no question that BRD is the No. 1 cause of morbidity and mortality in feedlot cattle; that’s been proven over and over again with the cost amounting from $800 million to $1 billion annually.”
The BRD score reports on a one to 10 scale and predicts genetic susceptibility to BRD. A higher score equals lower risk and greater genetic resistance to BRD, while a lower score equals higher risk.
“Animals with a BRD score of 10 are expected to have approximately a 46.35% greater probability of genetic resistance to BRD compared to animals with a score of 1. This allows producers to make more informed selection decisions using an intuitive scoring system, while also moving the industry forward,” says Victor Pedrosa, Neogen director of technical genomics and innovation.
Unlike controlled research populations, the BRD score was developed using large-scale commercial feedlot data — linking genomic profiles from more than 20,000 crossbred cattle directly to observed BRD treatment and mortality outcomes.
At its core, the BRD score predicts an animal’s genetic susceptibility to BRD, reflecting the genetic component of risk, not a diagnosis. Vaccination programs, nutrition and overall management and health protocols remain critical in successful BRD outcomes. The BRD score provides producers with another layer of information to make better, more informed decisions — made possible by this supporting data.
2. Sustainability Index
Since 2018, Neogen has actively participated in sustainability discussions, including involvement with Global Roundtable for Sustainable Beef, the team’s genomic advisory council and research partnership efforts. The new Sustainability Index (SI) provides a simple one to 10 score that predicts genetic potential for efficient, profitable and durable production. This balanced selection index weighs the key traits of importance within Production (36%), Terminal (33%) and Maternal (31%) categories to help producers make more informed, sustainability-focused selection decisions.
3. Sustainability Extra Dollars
With the Sustainability Index, producers will find value in the new feature, Sustainability Extra Dollars (S$), which combines biological trait information with commercial production assumptions to estimate economic impact for producers. As a maternal example, STAY (Stayability), which reflects probability of remaining productive through multiple calvings, has a genetic change per rank step ≈ +6% stayability.
“Using typical bred-heifer values ($1,800 to $2,200) and depreciation logic, the implied economic value per 1% stayability improvement falls around $5 to $10; thus, this economic value is rated $6 as a moderate, conservative midpoint, meaning 6 × 6 = $36 per rank step. This reflects meaningful lifetime productivity that drives overall sustainability. A productive herd is a sustainable herd,” Pedrosa explains.
4. Methane Emission Intensity Index (MEII)
The beef industry continually advances to meet supply chain pressures. The MEII supports the broader Sustainability Index framework with a standardized estimate of methane intensity during the finishing phase, associated with production efficiency. This measures methane intensity, not total methane production, and provides a score range demonstrating methane intensity per pound of beef produced.
Genomics is proven to drive herd health, profitability and efficiency for today’s beef operations — driving sustainability for the industry of tomorrow. To learn more, contact your Igenity representative or visit neogen.com.
