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Estimating the economic value of using a panel of tenderness markers to select for improved consumer palatability scores
Simulation studies were used to examine the economics of including tenderness genomic predictions within the Meat Standards Australia beef grading scheme (MSA). In this study the relationships between consumer palatability scores (MQ4) for 39 muscles individual cuts and genomic predictions of tenderness (MVPs) were estimated. A large range in individual carcass values differences (up to $150/head) was observed. However, little benefit could be obtained from gene markers from simply harvesting cuts based on improved estimates of eating quality. Selection of sires with improved MVPs could increase the carcass value of the progeny. It was estimated that selection of elite sire from within the example dataset could increase the carcass value by $12.5 in the first generation with 5% sires selected as parents. Using genomic prediction in a breeding program led to an increase in carcass value of $41.6 per carcass but plateaued after 4-5 generations.
Keywords: Tenderness, economics
