White Angus science put under the microscope

They point out heat tolerance is just one component of adaptation and the science has not addressed issues like reproductive function, tick and internal parasite resistance or even the logistics of introducing the genetics into the region.

Further, potential market and consumer resistance to beef from animals resulting from the use of gene editing needs to be considered.

Angus Australia chief executive officer Peter Parnell said there was concern that some breeders might view the technology as a ‘silver bullet’ to fast-track genetic improvement for particular traits at the expense of application of balanced selection for well-defined breeding objectives linked to improvement of overall profitability.

He said within reasonable limits of heat and parasite burdens, Angus genetics had already been widely embraced throughout northern Australia.

“In many cases this has been via crossbreeding and/or composite development to incorporate Angus benefits, particularly meat quality, fertility and polledness, with attributes of more tropically adapted genotypes such as tick resistance and heat tolerance,” he said.

“Considerable work has been done in the field to better understand the best management of Angus to achieve success in northern Australia.

“Angus Australia has a policy to continue to work with northern breeders to identify lines of Angus cattle with greater adaptability to hot northern environments.”

He said Angus Australia had no policy or regulations precluding the use of genetic modification however Angus breeders were making excellent progress with achieving genetic improvement for economically-important traits using conventional breeding methods - that is selection and crossbreeding.

“Significant potential remains to achieve much faster rates of genetic improvement through focused use of conventional genetic selection using breeding values based on collection of performance records - often assisted by the use of DNA profiles on animals - and the strategic use of artificial breeding,” he said.

Infusion of the polled gene, or red coat colour gene, were simple examples of infusion of individual genes into a population via conventional breeding techniques, he said.

“Also, genetic testing for undesirable recessive genes is widespread across the world, especially in Angus and Holstein populations, to identify and manage the incidence of affected animals for these recessive conditions,” Mr Parnell said.

“Genetic engineering is commonplace in plant breeding and has resulted in significant benefits for food production and reduced use of chemicals.

“There is no reason why such technologies would not be commonplace in livestock production if considered acceptable to consumers.”

However, it was premature to claim any revolutionary benefits before the necessary research trials were completed to demonstrate and quantify these benefits and the required market research conducted to determine the acceptability of such animals in our domestic and international markets, he said.

Queensland beef consultant John Bertram said the science begged the question: What will white do over black in terms of increased protein production?

“The issue has always been can we improve the reproductive function in the north,” he said.

“So far, the science surrounding white Angus is not talking about that, nor is it talking about tick and parasite resistance.

“We’re really only talking about changing the colour of the cattle and no grid has a premium for a different colour coat yet.

“Heat tolerance is one component of adaptation and there is a lot more to northern Australia than that.

“If we can indeed improve the kilograms of beef we’re producing, that we can target Asia with, and maintain survival in the northern environment, that would indeed be a benefit.”

Mr Bertram said another subtle issue was the management environment of northern Australia.

“Given the prevalence of uncastrated males, a lot of money could be spent without changing the facility for getting white Angus into the breeder herd,” he said.

“Science is nice and it’s great to demonstrate what can be done but this is a long way from being a practical option.

“Of greater benefit would be work to expand our knowledge base of what’s in the genome of existing animals so we can sort out what is worth keeping.”

Meanwhile, Murray Grey breeders say they have been producing cattle with the characteristics of white Angus for more than a hundred years.

Murray Grey Beef Cattle Society president Tim Perkins said the breed traits of a light coat to reduce heat stress, improve production and carcass traits had benefited producers in temperate and subtropical climates.

“The work done by the US researchers has highlighted the increase in profit which can be achieved by improving growth and carcass characteristics in your herd, while lowering the cost of production using a light-coated British breed such as Murray Greys,” he said