DNA Technology

[littledoggie]

In the previous thread, smgrath76 made a comment that has caused me to ask a question that anyone can answer.
What would be the procedure to using DNA instead of RFID tags for management? Is this to say that DNA could be used for traceability? If so, how would that work?

[littledoggie]

Sorry, that should read "in a previous thread" - the one about chronic/acute pain.

[smcgrath76]

How I would see this happening is
actually a blend of RFID and DNA.
An RFID tag is applied to the animal.
This tag takes a DNA sample from the ear
when it is administered, and the sample
(with the RFID number printed on it) is
submitted to a lab for extraction and
storage. If there was ever a problem in
the future any tissue sample (eg: a
steak) could have DNA pulled and
compared to the animal sample to
determine the exact animal.
If the producer wanted they could obtain
other services from the DNA such as
marker testing, defect tests, sire
verification, etc. by paying for those
services. The RFID portion would be
used for tracking and management of the
live animal, and it would be 100% tamper
proof as you can't change the animal's
DNA. You could in effect take a new
tissue sample and identify the original
RFID tag in the animal if it lost its
tag.
Currently we have stored DNA on every
cow, sire and replacement heifer in our
herd and will move to including feeder
calves as we work on developing a beef
market. 100% traceability to the plate,
not just the door of the packing plant
or until a tag is lost, and the ability
to leverage the technology for other
benefits.

[littledoggie]

It sounds like an expensive process - is it?

[grassfarmer]

I don't see any role of DNA in traceability because to me traceability indicates ability to track movements of an animal not only it's genetic background. Besides the DNA testing will need to improve some before it is workable on a large scale. We DNA tested a bunch of embryo calves this year using tail hair samples where they had to prove parentage of calves to both sire and dam. We sent in the calf samples along with the parent samples and the first test run only proved about 20% of the calves to one parent - none were proven correct to both parents. After about 3 more test runs they got them all proven correct but it was a far from impressive result.
I asked about running two full brother bulls with a group of cows next year and DNA'ing the calves to prove parentage and was advised not to as they would be unlikely to be able to sort the calves with any degree of accuracy.

[smcgrath76]

GF - that's why i think the DNA needs to
be tied to an RFID.
The resolving power of the tests ties
directly to the number of markers used.
The cost of this is rapidly declining
and the technology was rapidly
improving. 2 years ago a 50k panel was
several hundred dollars. Now that same
panel is well under $100 and for a
couple of hundred you can run a
1,000,000 snp chip.
DNA is a technology that will have
practical application in the food/beef
industry.

[Happytrails]

Carry on bravely friends but please respect freedom of choice in these matters. No doubt we all have our marketing niches. One size does not fit all. HT