Bovigen announces the cattle industry's first and only DNA test that can identify an animal's genetic ability to efficiently convert feed. The GeneSTAR® Feed Efficiency test can identify up to a $50 difference in feed cost between animals when ration costs are at $165/ton, says Victor Castellon, Bovigen CEO.

Available Aug. 22, the test consists of four markers that together identify as much as a 15% difference in daily feed consumption with no affect on other measures such as average daily gain (ADG), carcass weight, or quality and yield grade.

The markers were identified through discovery and validation work on thousands of cattle focusing on the trait of net-feed intake, sometimes also called residual feed intake or net feed efficiency, Bovigen says. This trait was identified by nutritionists to measure differences between how much an animal should eat and how much it actually eats over a given period of time and accounting for the calf's weight, how much it grows and its composition of bone, muscle and fat.

For example, an animal with a Feed Efficiency GPD® of -3.0 will eat 3 lbs. less feed/day than an animal with a Feed Efficiency GPD® of zero. Over a 150-day feeding period, and with a ration cost of $165/ton, the animal with a -3.0 GPD will cost $37 less to feed without sacrificing growth performance or carcass quality.

An independent study showed feed efficiency has six times as much effect on feedyard profitability as ADG, while a 20% improvement in efficiency would equal a $65 improvement in profitability, the company adds.

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-- Bovigen news release