March 18, 2025

Genetic Innovation Requires Leadership and Data — The Phenotype Paradox in the Beef Industry

57 minutes

Genetic innovation in animal agriculture is moving at a faster-than-ever pace, and this episode digs into the history of performance testing while exploring new technologies like computer vision, microbiome analysis and ways to collect more commercial phenotypes. The discussion covers the challenges of more data, including the labor and expense of proposing new traits, along with the opportunities to make big moves in important categories such as health and efficiency. Open-mindedness, collaboration, creativity and standardization will all be needed to make progress. What is the role of the American Angus Association and Angus Genetics Inc. in leading this change? Listen to find out.

HOSTS: Miranda Reiman and Mark McCully

GUESTS: John Dickinson and Troy Rowan

John Dickinson is a fifth-generation Angus breeder and a former National Junior Angus Board (NJAB) chairman. A University of Illinois graduate and former regional manager for the American Angus Association, Dickinson often makes the trek between his cows in California and his home in Idaho. He is also a founding partner in Parnell Dickinson, Inc., a full-service marketing firm that works in all facets of promotion, management and cattle trade — both seedstock and commercial.

Troy Rowan is an assistant professor of beef cattle genomics at the University of Tennessee– Knoxville. His research work brings together many types of “big data,” both phenotypic and genomic, to understand the genetics of economically relevant traits in beef cattle. He also has a part-time Extension appointment, making all that research applicable to the state’s beef producers.

Troy grew up on a small Charolais operation in Southwest Iowa and received his undergraduate degree in biology from Creighton University. He earned his doctorate in genetics from the University of Missouri before coming to Tennessee in 2021.