Qld scientists develop cattle age test using tail hair

Scientists from the University of Queensland have developed a technique to determine a cow’s age by sequencing the DNA from their tail hair.

Being able to determine the age of a cow is useful for a farmer given that it can define how farmers plan for the farming and development of cattle, as well as their herd management.

The technique, which relies on the technology of a portable DNA sequencer called MinION, can be used to determine the age of any cattle to within a year or two of its definite age. This makes it exact enough to alter farming practices.

“There’ll be gains across the board for producers including improved herd fertility, growth rates, health and meat traits,” said Dr Elizabeth Ross, who is a University of Queensland research fellow and the leader of the work.

“Tools we can’t imagine today will be a reality in five years and I’m excited to be working with the portable DNA sequencer to help the cattle industry prepare for future challenges.”

The research is being expanded to include more hair samples and will involve proof-of-concept trials on cattle stations later in the year. The technique was developed to help Queensland farmers maximise the quality and performance of their herds.

“The performance data and DNA gathered from cattle will enable genomic predictions and this completes the feedback loop and making sure that industry data will be used to drive ongoing genetic improvement,” said Michael Crowley, who is the General Manager Research Development & Adoption at Meat & Livestock Australia, which funded the research.

The full paper was published in Frontiers in Genetics.

Image caption: UQ Centre for Animal Science director Professor Ben Hayes sampling tail hair. Image credit: QAAFI