“Cargill is excited to enter into this license agreement with Neogen to ensure that the work started over a decade ago by Cargill and its partners is utilized in the marketplace more broadly. The technology and patents are complementary to Neogen’s existing offerings in this space and we believe Neogen will be able to effectively leverage the years of work done by Cargill and its partners,” said George Kwasniak, vice president of business development for Cargill’s animal protein group. “Cargill has used this technology at its feedlots and we are confident these tools will help the beef and dairy industries to increase productivity while reducing the resources required to produce each pound of meat and each gallon of milk.”
BeefGen will help cattle producers identify genetically superior animals that will produce high-quality calves. The genetic tools can also help producers identify the best animals to optimize weight gain, marbling, tenderness, meat yield and other characteristics.
Dairy producers can benefit from BeefGen through critical information about superior breeding bulls and cows with the goal of milk production efficiency, improved reproduction and better disease resistance.
“This agreement allows Neogen unencumbered access to extensive cattle genomic analytic and bioinformatic knowledge amassed by Cargill researchers and their partners,” said Dr. Jason Lilly, Neogen’s vice president of corporate development. “This access to the intellectual property developed by one of the world’s largest protein producers through years of research should significantly add to our efforts to continue providing the most useful and innovative animal genomic tools for worldwide cattle producers.”
