Livestock Genetics Exploring New Opportunities

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Livestock Genetics Exploring New Opportunities

• Geoff Simm
• Sustainable Livestock Systems Research Group, SAC

RASE Seminar Investment in Agricultural
Innovation - 10 March 2009
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Outline

• Livestock genetics the story so far
• Future challenges
• New opportunities

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Background

• Genetic change in farm livestock
• selection between breeds
• crossbreeding
• selection within breeds
• direct genetic modification
• Selection among breeds or crosses one-off
• Further improvement from selection within breed

Iona Antiques, London
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Livestock breeding structures

• Pigs, poultry dairy cattle
• Dominance of small number international companies
• Aviagen, Lohmann Tierzucht (Erich Wesjohann Gp),
• Genus ABS, PIC (Genus plc)
• Strong focus on economic performance
• comprehensive recording, sophisticated
  statistical analysis (BLUP), intense selection
• Beef cattle sheep
• Largely based on performance testing in pedigree
  herds flocks (or by eye)
• Large number of individual breeders
• Some companies emerging e.g. US, NZ

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Breeding pyramid

• Recording performance of animals at the top of
  breeding pyramid
• e.g. growth rate, fatness, FCE, egg production
• Identifying best animals using them as
  parents
• Flow of genes - improved stock to tiers below
• Highly cost effective

Model fits poultry and pig breeding especially,
but other spp too
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Selection works...

• Evidence from farm livestock experiments,
  industry breeding schemes from lab animal
  studies that
• selective breeding is very effective
• most traits can be altered by selection
• selection continues to give a response for many
  generations

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Selection works...

• Evidence from farm livestock experiments,
  industry breeding schemes from lab animal
  studies that
• selective breeding is very effective
• most traits can be altered by selection
• selection continues to give a response for many
  generations

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Rates of genetic change expected in farm livestock

• Typically 1 - 3 of mean per annum
• Cumulative
• Single trait or multi-trait index
• Higher rates when
• genetic variability high
• trait not age or sex limited
• species has high reproductive rate

After Smith, 1984
Expected response to selection for growth rate
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Have these rates been achieved in commercial
practice?

• Poultry ? ? ?
• Pigs ? ? ?
• Dairy cattle ? ?
• Beef cattle ? (some schemes)
• Sheep ? (some schemes)

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Genetic change in dairy cattle / sheep

• High rates of change (1.5 p.a.) in kg
  milk/fat/protein since mid 1970s in some
  countries e.g. USA, Canada, NZ - others since
• World class gains in UK sheep sire referencing
  schemes

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Genetic change in pigs / broilers

• Annual changes - European pig breeding
  programmes
• 2.4 in daily LW gain (20 g/d)
• 1.6 in litter size (0.2 piglets/litter)
• 0.8 lean meat (0.5)

McKay et al., 2000 Koerhuis Thompson, 1997
Merks, 2000
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ACRBC 1957 Males 2001 Feed
Ross 2001 Males 2001 Feed
Day 43
Day 71
Day 85
Day 57
Havenstein, et al 2003 - NCSU
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Value of genetic improvement to producers

• Recent studies by SAC partners on value of 10
  years genetic improvement
• Sheep - 29 million
• but 111m possible with higher uptake
• Beef cattle - 23 million
• Internal rate of return on investment sheep
  beef 32
• Dairy up to 147 million from adding health,
  welfare fertility traits to PLI

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Benefits of genetic improvement

• Higher value product/ lower costs
• Producers
• Cheaper eggs, poultry, pigmeat and milk
• Consumers, retailers
• Leaner (healthier) meat
• Consumers, retailers, processors, society
• Animal health welfare Some recent schemes
• Animals, producers, consumers, society
• Lower greenhouse gases per unit product
• Society

www.statistics.gov.uk
QMS
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Issues / lessons learned

• Loss of breeds
• One per month 20 at risk
• Loss of genetic variability within some breeds
• Risk to functional fitness with narrow
  production-orientated breeding goals
• e.g. ascites, leg problems, disease risk,
  neonatal mortality
• Low use of genetic improvement in some
  sectors/countries
• Inappropriate use of some breeds in some places

sources FAO http//www.aipl.arsusda.gov/dynamic
/inbrd/current/kindx.html
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Outline

• Livestock genetics the story so far
• Future challenges
• New opportunities

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Global livestock production

• 70 of agricultural land
• 30 of the ice-free land surface of planet!
• 40 of global agricultural GDP
• Major contributor to global environmental
  problems part of the solution
• Consumption to double 2000-2050?
• Population growth
• Growth in affluence
• Food vs feed debate
• Especially serious given climate change

Steinfeld et al, 2006
Pics S Eady interactive.usask.ca
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Life Cycle Analysis - Global Warming Potential
for Foods of Animal Origin
Ruminants produce most methane Beef sheep
lower product output per breeding female USP
ruminants (directly unusable) plant material ?
human food
per t carcass, 10 m3 milk, or
20,000 eggs Source Cranfield University
Genesis Faraday Partnership
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Breeding for reduced emissions

• Improving individual animal / system productivity
  / efficiency
• Reducing individual animal / system losses /
  disease
• Multiple wins!
• Direct selection to reduce emissions
• Feed use/digestion efficiency
• Rumen bugs
• Likely to be highly cost effective (Moran et al,
  2007)
• Value animal plant genetics RD - likely future
  policy priorities inc. climate change
• Public good rates of return 11-18 for animal
  case studies
• c.f. 3.5 recommended Treasury rate

Langhill herd SAC Dairy Research Centre
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Predicted climate change impacts by 2050 (IPCC,
2007)
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Outline

• Livestock genetics the story so far
• Future challenges
• New opportunities

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New opportunities

• More sustainable breeding goals
• Addressing new global / local priorities
• New data / new measurements
• Automated data capture
• e.g. farm slaughterhouse data
• Video-based grading
• closer link between carcass payment schemes
  breeding goal?
• CT scanning of breeding stock
• composition
• 3D muscularity
• prediction of meat eating quality?
• Other new tools for assessing quality
• New molecular genetic tools
• Translating discoveries from biological
  revolution

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Genome-wide selection

• Molecular genetic tools for breeders much
  promised
• Search for genes / markers (known sequences of
  DNA nearby)
• often assumes few markers, large effect
• most traits many genes involved (100-200?)
• markers tracking only part of total genetic
  variation in trait of interest
• Alternative - trace all segments of genome with
  000s markers (genome-wide selection - Meuwissen
  et al., 2001)

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GM animals?

• Widely used in medical/biological research
• Early applications in farm animals often led to
  welfare problems
• Public acceptability?
• Examples of current research
• Avian influenza resistant chickens
  (Cambridge/Roslin)
• Pigs with reduced P needs (phytase) (Canada)
• GH salmon (Canada)
• Other issues cost, efficacy, suitable candidate
  traits/genes?

Roslin institute/PPL
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Conclusions

• Selective breeding of livestock proven,
  effective, cost-effective tool
• we can change most animal characteristics
• inc key traits for farmers, processors,
  retailers, consumers, policy makers, animals
• dramatically with time
• Wider use/uptake of genetics in some cases
  wiser use in others
• Major global local challenges
• Opportunities for investment in innovation
• Public benefits (e.g. climate change mitigation)
• Private benefits (e.g. food production)

FAO
FAO
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