Evaluating a potential proxy test for Feed Conversion Efficiency in beef cattle.

该项目的目的是探索实施一种评估英国肉牛饲料转化效率（FCE）的新方法的选择。长期目标是使用新的方法来培育高FCE的牛。最大限度地提高FCE是很重要的，因为饲料是牛肉生产中最大的生产成本，而高FCE的育种是一个很好的长期战略，在养猪业和家禽业中效果良好。FCE的传统育种方法是长期测量采食量和增重，但这对肉牛来说是昂贵的，因此在其他国家只对少数品种实施。该项目基于一种新型生物标志物的测试，我们将探索将这种方法与其他农场肉牛测试一起实施的可行性，并使用结果来确定未来采样和测试方案的选择。

The aim of this project is to explore options for implementing a new approach to assess feed conversion efficiency (FCE) in UK beef cattle. The longer-term aim is to use the new approach to breed for cattle with high FCE. It is important to maximize FCE because feed is the largest production cost in beef production and breeding for high FCE is a good long-term strategy that has worked well in the pig and poultry industries. The traditional approach to breed for FCE has been to measure feed intake and weight gain over long periods of time, but this is expensive for beef cattle and so has only been implemented for a few breeds in other countries. The project is based on testing for a novel biomarker and we will explore the practicalities of implementing this method alongside other on-farm testing of beef cattle and use the results to define options for future sampling and testing protocols.