Improvement of feed efficiency in cattle through genomics and phenomics

Improvement of feed utilization of the cow through genetic (genomic) selection is considered as a promising solution to increase the environmental and economic sustainability of the cattle industry. This PhD project aims to develop novel phenotypes, new statistical models and tools for improvement of feed efficiency. The PhD project will contribute to research on genetic residual feed intake models with focus on avoiding unfavorable genetic relationships with functional traits and methane emission in cattle.

The PhD project will include development of novel phenotypes for mobilization of different body tissues in dairy cattle based on image analysis. Furthermore, work on how to improve genomic accuracy for residual feed intake models through better use of available data.

This PhD will be a part of the on-going projects GenTORE and CFIT (https://qgg.au.dk/en/projects/project-participation/), which aims for genomic selection of feed efficiency and resilience in cattle.