12/5/19

A team of researchers at the University of Tennessee Institute of Agriculture has been awarded a $156,000 grant to examine value-added opportunities for marketing cattle using genetic information at the seedstock, cow-calf and stocker producer stages of the beef supply chain.

The project links the flow of cattle genetic information along the supply chain, equipping cattle producers with information to help make decisions on which characteristics may be valuable to naturally breed in their calves.

Funded by the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Agricultural Marketing Service, researchers will evaluate Tennessee cow-calf producer preferences for bull genomics and physical traits, as well as evaluate cow-calf stocker producer preferences for marketing their cattle to feedlots using newly available genomic testing.

Giles County UT Extension will assist producers in understanding the value of their cattle throughout the beef supply chain, as well as understanding the value-added possibilities of using newly available genetic testing when marketing bulls and feeder cattle.

The Tennessee cattle industry generated more than half a billion dollars in 2017. This project has the potential to increase profitability and economic opportunities in rural communities with cattle operations not only in Tennessee but also in other cattle-producing states.