NEW YORK (GenomeWeb News) – Cargill and Branhaven this week announced they have licensed their BeefGen genomics tools to Neogen for improving beef cattle carcass quality, production efficiency, and nutritional value.
Through its GeneSeek subsidiary, Neogen will use the molecular tool to help cattle feedstock breeders, cattle producers, feedlot operators, and dairies to improve their herds through genetics-based data. Cargill said that BeefGen helps beef cattle producers identify animals best suited to optimize weight gain, beef marbling, tenderness, red meat yield, rib eye quality, and other characteristics.
Additionally, BeefGen could help identify genetically superior animals for breeding purposes, Cargill, an agricultural, financial, and industrial products and services firm, said.
“This access to the intellectual property developed by one of the world’s largest protein producers through years of research should significantly add to our efforts to continue providing the most useful and innovative animal genomic tools for worldwide cattle producers,” Jason Lilly, VP of corporate development at Neogen, said in a statement.
Financial and other terms of the deal were not disclosed.