Producers left out | The major beneficiary of animal genetic improvements is consumers: expert
CALGARY — Economics must be considered when applying genomics to livestock production, but public support for the technology is vital.
Alison Van Eenennaam, an extension specialist in animal genomics and biotechnology at the University of California Davis, told an April 23 meeting of Genome Alberta that the public has a poor understanding of genomics, genetic engineering and conventional breeding techniques.
However, she said genomics hold promise for improving animal productivity, conserving resources and increasing food availability and quality for consumers.
“If you look at the major beneficiary of animal genetic improvement over the years, the major beneficiary has been the public,” said Van Eenennaam.
Applied genomics could bring additional benefits, she added.
“The reason that we’re so jazzed about genomic selection is that it offers a selection criteria, or a way to select for animals, for traits, that we can’t do very well at the moment.”
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However, researchers need a large population of animals to measure for specific traits and develop tests to predict the same trait in other animals.
Van Eenennaam said smaller breeds are less able to provide enough animals and afford that type of research. As well, accuracy of the predictions drops when dealing with crossbreds.
Such genomics work also favours an integrated supply chain.
In the pork and chicken industries, a small number of companies disseminate genetics to a large number of animals.
These companies can afford the research because they will regain the costs.
In the cattle industry, however, there is little incentive for cow-calf producers to use genomic technology because they are unlikely to realize additional profits. Those profits would most likely be earned at the feeder, slaughter and retail links in the supply chain.
“(There is) no transfer of value proposition from the feedlot and the processor back to the person making the selection decisions,” said Van Eenennaam.
Potential remedies might include price incentives or subsidized breeding arrangements.
Henry An, an agricultural economist at the University of Alberta, said country-of-origin labelling legislation in the United States has in-creased vertical integration within the cattle industry.
The economics of “the protest industry” will also affect genomics’ future, Van Eenennaam said.
She said protest groups can make money by protesting specific technologies. They may be funded behind the scenes by competitors of those proposing the technology, she added.
As an example, Van Eenennaam suggested that those protesting commercialization of the genetically modified Aqua Advantage salmon, a fast-growing fish that has yet to gain government approval, were funded by other salmon producers who fear loss of market share.
Other economic considerations surrounding genomics include potential trade implications, analysis that includes the costs associated with forgoing the technology and letting other countries pursue its benefits, and the question of who pays for development of selection for traits that fail at the market level.
For example, Van Eenennaam said California enacted legislation to ensure eggs from cage-free chickens, but market demand for those eggs has been poor. A similar scenario could play out if major investment went into genomic selection for a particular trait and then there was no demand for it.
An noted the importance of market studies before adopting technology.
A 98 percent adoption rate by dairy farmers was predicted before the milk production hormone bovine somatatropin was introduced in the U.S. However, consumers rejected its use and adoption was 21 percent among dairy producers, later dropping to 15 percent.
An said Canadian producers must consider whether genomic technology would still be profitable if meat produced with those methods had to be segregated from meat shipped to the European Union.
