The future of livestock breeding: Genomic selection for efficiency, reduced emissions intensity, and adaptation

Abstract

As the global population and global wealth both continue to increase, so will the demand for livestock products, especially those that are highly nutritious. However, competition with other uses for land and water resources will also intensify, necessitating more efficient livestock production. In addition, as climate change escalates, reduced methane emissions from cattle and sheep will be a critical goal. Application of new technologies, including genomic selection and advanced reproductive technologies, will play an important role in meeting these challenges. Genomic selection, which enables prediction of the genetic merit of animals from genome-wide SNP markers, has already been adopted ..