The Economic Value of Improvements in Beef Tenderness by Genetic Marker Selection

A genetic simulation model is combined with an economic model of the U.S. beef industry to determine how consumer demand shifts, resulting from bull and heifer selection strategies that improve steak tenderness, affect economic profitability at four points in the beef supply chain. The results indicate that a selection strategy in which bulls in the upper 30% of genetic merit are selected each year would result in increased profitability of $9.60/head for feeder cattle and $1.23/head for fed cattle in 20 years. The net present value of the genetic improvement program is estimated to produce economic benefits of $7.6 billion.