Efforts by the Scottish government to improve that nation's notable beef herd will be dramatically enhanced by a Michigan-based corporation with ties to St. Joseph thanks to a new agreement. Lansing's Neogen Corporation, which operates the International Diagnostic Systems, or IDS unit, from quarters on Cleveland Avenue just south of the St. Joseph city limits, will perform genomics testing as part of the Scottish government's program to improve the country's beef herd.
Neogen's European subsidiary, which is based in Scotland, will work with that nation's Beef Efficiency Scheme, as they are calling it, to improve overall herd profitability, and make Scotland's beef herd more sustainable both economically and environmentally. The 5-year project is a partnership between the Scottish government and Scotland's Rural College. Neogen's GeneSeek lab is responsible for the project's animal genotyping and supply of sampling kits. That's work that is similar to the product line that IDS produces in St. Joe according to company officials.
Dr. Gary Evans is Neogen's European Business Development Manager. He tells us, "The genotyping will be performed using our new GGP-NG 50K chip and the results that we produce will be used by Scotland's Rural College, which is developing predictions for improved genetic selection in respect of growth rates, feed conversion, maternal behavior, nutrition practice, and disease resistance for commercial beef farmers." He adds, "We won the contract through a competitive tender issued by Scottish government, and a part of our success was due to our new European genomics facility in Ayr."
Scottish beef has long been recognized for its high quality, and beef production is at the heart of Scottish agriculture. With an output in 2013 of approximately $1-billion U.S. dollars, the beef industry alone makes up 26-percent of Scottish agricultural output, and is the biggest single sector of the Scottish agriculture industry. The nation's climate, soil type and overall topography create ideal conditions for beef cattle to thrive.
All processes, procedures and equipment in Neogen Europe's new lab are a carbon copy of Neogen's flagship GeneSeek lab in Lincoln, Nebraska — which is the largest animal genomics lab in the world.
Neogen Corporation and it's subsidiary at International Diagnostic Systems in St. Joseph develop and market products dedicated to food and animal safety. The company's Food Safety Division markets dehydrated culture media and diagnostic test kits to detect foodborne bacteria, natural toxins, food allergens, drug residues, plant diseases and sanitation concerns.
