020618 Cargill Invests in Genetic Cattle SelectionJune 12, 2002Chicago, IL - Privately held agribusiness giant Cargill Inc. said it will invest in a genetic cattle selection process that should provide ranchers and feedlots with a means to produce beef that is consistent in taste and tenderness. Caprock Cattle Feeders and meat packer Excel Corp., both units of Cargill, will provide $10 million to privately held life sciences company MetaMorphix, Inc. to develop the genetic selection process, the companies said. The selection system will rely on mapping of cattle genomes, or sets of chromosomes, to identify the meat-producing traits in cattle. However, commercial use is still several years away, said Mark Klein, Cargill spokesman. Savage, Maryland-based MetaMorphix develops and commercializes food and human-health technology. Caprock feeds about 600,000 head of cattle a year on its four feedlots. Excel is the nation's second- largest beef packer behind Tyson Foods Inc.'s IBP Inc. unit. The selection technology will be designed to identify cattle early in the feeding process that would best fit beef companies' many products, including new case-ready and quick-to-fix items. When used on young cattle, the technology should help ranchers adjust feeding practices to produce the desired traits. "This project is all about improving the overall quality of beef for consumers," Bill Buckner, president of Excel, said in a statement. "As a beef processor, we will have a better idea of cattle quality coming into the plant so that we can direct them to the right product lines." Once the genetic process is developed, it will undergo testing at feedlots and beef plants. "Caprock and Excel will then test it over a number of months to make sure it is commercially viable," said Klein. MetaMorphix and the Cargill units will be 50/50 partners in marketing the technology and sharing the proceeds, said Klein. "We see it as part of the beef industry's ongoing efforts to improve beef quality," he said.
E-mail: sflanagan@sprintmail.com |
