Breed4Food is a consortium established by Wageningen University & Research Centre and four international animal breeding companies as you can see below and on click, please check out our movie.

Founded in 2005, Hendrix Genetics has quickly become a leading international animal breeding company.

CRV is an innovative international organization for cattle improvement with the cooperative CRV u.a. as shareholder whose members are located in The Netherlands and in Flanders.

Topigs Norsvin is renowned for its innovative approach in implementing new technologies and its continuous focus on cost-efficient pig production.

The aim of Automated broiler phenotyping using smart technologies to improve health, welfare and performance is to implement automatic approaches for phenotyping of activity, leg health and body weight in broilers. 

The aim of Innovations in Reproductive and Cryopreservation Technologies in Pigs and Cattle is to further develop cryopreservation (vitrification) protocols that will lead to good quality embryo’s after freezing and thawing with high fertility rates, for both cattle and pigs. 

Breed4Food seminar: Facing the challenges in the food system 
Utilizing DNA information and precision phenotyping

Thursday April 7^th about 70 participants were present in Ouwehands Zoo, with another 17 online, to mark the end of the 2^nd and beginning of the 3^rd joint research program of Breed4Food. Priority number one in animal breeding is to improve a population of animals by selecting the best animals as parents for the next generation. The goal is to contribute with research and development to sustainable production of (dairy) cattle, pigs, broilers, layers, turkeys and aquaculture. These animals are part of the food system and animal breeding aims at responding to changing societal and consumer demands for sustainable production of the main livestock species. In the first part of the seminar the focus was on the research themes utilizing DNA information and precision phenotyping.

Expanding breeding goals

The holy grail of animal breeding is to select the best animals as accurate and as fast as possible. Theme leaders Mario Calus and Yvette de Haas gave an overview of what was done in genomic prediction, use of DNA information in animal breeding, new breeding goals and new phenotypes. Phenotyping of animals started more than 100 years ago. Until the 80's the focus was on production and conformation, such as number of eggs, kg milk and growth. Since then breeding goals broadened, and with genomic prediction more selection pressure can be created which enables making progress for many different traits. That is why developing the core engine for genomic prediction has been, and remains to be, one of the central themes in Breed4Food. In order to make genetic progress, you need to know which animals rank high or low for certain traits and for that precision phenotyping is and will remain important. 

Implementation by the companies 

Examples of important applications developed within Breed4Food and implemented by the companies were highlighted. One example was the ability of single-step genomic evaluations to translate the vast body of claw health measurements in cattle into accurate breeding values. Other smart algorithms included one for verification and identification of parents based on genotypes, and one to detect chromosomal structure abnormalities based on whole genome sequence information. Another highlighted study was the DNA pooling, which is of great interest because genotyping individual commercial broilers is too expensive, but with DNA pooling a link to the pure lines can be established at low costs. A company is going to repeat it with real data on aquaculture. Another highlighted study focussed on how to measure the cows’ welfare or get an indication for disease detection. With cameras their position in the barn was studied and lying or standing was classified. Patterns in these behaviours during the day can provide information about the welfare state of the cow. Can this be used for the future? For broilers and turkeys it was shown that recording activity of birds is related to health, welfare and performance.

Educate young professionals

Moderator Han Swinkels asked the young professionals Malou van der Sluis, Marieke Poppe and Martijn Derks how their involvement in Breed4Food had impacted their development and career. This included the opportunities to work on practical and powerful datasets, collecting data yourself at a farm, and working on the development of novel traits. Mentioned acquired skills and competences included presentation skills, thinking about implementation of results, and also learning to make realistic goals. 


Presentation Utilizing DNA Information

Presentation Precision Phenotyping  

Breed4Food seminar: Facing the challenges in the food system 
A Social Contract for Breed4Food

Thursday April 7^th about 70 participants were present in Ouwehands Zoo, with another 17 online, to mark the end of the 2^nd and beginning of the 3^rd joint research program of Breed4Food. Priority number one in animal breeding is to improve a population of animals by selecting the best animals as parents for the next generation. The goal is to contribute with research and development to sustainable production of (dairy) cattle, pigs, broilers, layers, turkeys and aquaculture. These animals are part of the food system and animal breeding aims at responding to changing societal and consumer demands for sustainable production of the main livestock species. In the second part of the seminar the focus was on engaging as breeders in a dialogue with society. 

We don't need animals – A Social Contract for Breed4Food

Keynote speaker Jan Staman, Council on Animal Affairs, shared two metaphors or frames about relationships with animals. It is a wicked problem, difficult or impossible to tackle by the breeders because of incomplete, contradictory, and changing requirements. Wicked problems can always be described as the symptom of other problems. Arguments against do not help to counteract these metaphors. Livestock animals are considered as: 1. Companion animals belonging to our households or 2. Like a plague, a pest, a number problem. To work on trust and confidence is important. With confidence problems; avoid public affairs, is his recommendation. Jan recommends addressing wicked problems by buying time and avoiding the use of conversation stoppers. 

Advisory Board

Frank Meijboom, Marije Klever and Lisanne Stadig are introduced as the Advisory Board for the Work Package on ‘Ethics & Society’ of the new Breed4Food program. They comment that the metaphors should be taken seriously by the breeding companies. Think about: ‘what is my relationship with an animal?’. Be a caring farmer and have an open mind for different views. It was interesting to observe that only few participants today knew the website https://www.deltaplanveehouderij.nl/ from the Animal Protection Organisation (Dierenbescherming). At the end of this discussion Jan Staman and the Advisory Board gave the following take home messages: People are worried about disconnection. Look from a young farmers perspective. Be open and transparent about your role and impact as breeders. 

Karel de Greef, leader of the Work Package ‘Ethics & Society’ expressed his thanks to Jan Staman and the Advisory Board for triggering the discussion and their recommendations. Karel also referred to the ongoing kitchen table talks within the breeding companies which will also help to get more engaged in a dialogue with society about the impact of breeding on the food system.

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