Angus Genetics Inc. (AGI) brought together about 100 cattle breeders, beef industry professionals, researchers and academics for its Imagine: Beef Genetics Forum on 18-19 August in Kansas City, The Fence Post reports in an account by Sarah Moyer of Angus Communications.

The second forum, after a first in 2024, was themed "From Genes to Gains: Optimizing genetics & management to unlock full supply chain profitability". Alongside keynote and technical talks, it set aside time for small-group discussion on what the beef market demands of genetics and how better genetic expression can raise profit.

"You look across this room, and you see a true cross-section of the industry," AGI president Kelli Retallick-Riley said at the opening. Industry consultant Nevil Speer of Bowling Green, Kentucky, who gave a keynote, urged producers and partners to take on hard topics face to face.

Early takeaways summarised at the event were that long-term genetic improvement across the industry will need both economics and biology; that red meat yield research, fertility and health traits are examples of this; and that stronger data systems are needed across the whole supply chain. Sessions also looked at how genetics, management tools and the environment work together.

"Everybody's probably got a different set of priorities, as far as their traits go," said AGI board chairman John Dickinson of Caldwell, Idaho. "The beef industry is segmented, but I think through this communication we can sure get more profitable together."

AGI plans to publish a full summary of the forum as a white paper in early 2027.

Photo: Anne Worner / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 2.0)

Source: The Fence Post