09/09/2026
The animals you see every day are the result of their genetic potential interacting with their environment including nutrition, health and management.
Nutrition often sets the limit on how well that potential can be expressed. But even under the same conditions, some animals reach puberty earlier, maintain condition better, rebreed sooner and produce more. That difference is partly genetic.
Fat, empty cows still consume feed that could be invested in productive females producing kilograms of beef to sell. Nor does a herd simply “average itself out” in the right direction.
A line of replacement heifers only improves the herd if better genetics are being identified and retained. Selection determines which direction the average moves.
My second Beef Central genetics column looks at the evidence for selecting cattle that can remain productive in harder environments
This week’s genetic review looks at the interaction between nutrition, management and genetics, and draws on northern research to explain how selection can improve reproductive performance without overlooking environmental limitations...Read More
