The true economic value of improved beef and sheep breeding
Take Home Message: Genetic selection for performance and carcass quality in the UK beef cattle and sheep industries has resulted in a rate of return on investment of 32%.
Genetic improvements made during the past 10 years are set to yield a financial benefit equal to millions of pounds for beef and sheep producers. That’s just one of the positive highlights of a study, carried out by scientists in New Zealand and the UK, to calculate the financial benefits of genetic change in both industries.
“Estimates of recent genetic trends in recorded traits, industry statistics and published estimates of the economic values of trait changes were used to parameterise the model for the UK sheep and beef industries,” explained New Zealand-based AbacusBio’s Peter Amer.
“And despite rates of genetic change in the relevant performance-recorded breeding populations being substantially less than theoretical predictions, the financial benefits of genetic change were substantial.”
Over a 20-year period, the benefits from 10 years of genetic progress at recently achieved rates in recorded hill sheep, sheep crossing sire and sheep terminal sire breeding programmes was estimated to be £5.3, £1.0 and £11.5 million, respectively. And if dissemination of genetic material is such that these rates of change are also realised across the entire ram breeding industry, the combined benefits would be £110.8 million.
“For beef cattle, genetic evaluation systems have been operating within all the major breeds for some years with quite widespread use of performance recording, and so genetic trends within the beef breeds were used as predictors of industry genetic change,” said Dr Amer.
He added that benefits from 10 years of genetic progress at recent rates of change, considering a 20-year time frame, in terminal sire beef breeds are expected to be £4.9 million. Benefits from genetic progress for growth and carcass characters in dual-purpose beef breeds were £18.2 million after subtraction of costs associated with a deterioration in calving traits.
These benefits may be further offset by unfavourable associated changes in maternal traits. Additional benefits from identification and use of the best animals available from the breeding sector for commercial matings through performance recording and genetic evaluation could not be quantified.
“When the benefits of genetic improvement were expressed on an annual present value basis, and compared with lagged annual investment costs to achieve it, the internal rate of return (IRR) on the combined investment in sheep and beef cattle was 32%,” said Dr Amer.
“And despite a much higher rate of participation in performance recording, the present value of benefits and the IRR were lower for beef cattle than for sheep.”
He added that the study shows that a substantial proportion of UK sheep and beef breeders have responded effectively to a demand for lower cost, leaner meat by society and the resulting price signals.
“If society wants the industry to produce a different product under different circumstances, then improvements in traits such as meat quality, disease resistance and animal welfare can be delivered by UK sheep and beef breeders, provided the right signals are in place, and the breeding industry has the appropriate recording and genetic evaluation tools available.
“Relatively low penetration rates of performance recording in the sheep breeding industries suggest that substantial additional benefits could be achieved with higher adoption rates.”
Full Paper.pdf
Full details: Amer PR, Nieuwhof GJ, Pollott GE, Roughsedge T, Conington J and Simm G: “Industry benefits from recent genetic progress in sheep and beef populations.” Animal 1: 1414-1426.
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