Breeding Better Livestock : Its More Than Genes: Its More Than Genes

By Beilharz, Rolf, Dr.

Book Id: WPLBN0100751389
Format Type: PDF (eBook)
File Size: 1.47 MB.
Reproduction Date: 7/14/2026

Title:	Breeding Better Livestock : Its More Than Genes: Its More Than Genes
Author:	Beilharz, Rolf, Dr.
Volume:
Language:	English
Subject:	Non Fiction, Agriculture, Genetics of breeding
Collections:	Authors Community, Science
Historic Publication Date:	2026
Publisher:	The Society of Old Agriculture Fellows

Member Page:	Lindsay Falvey
Citation APA MLA Chicago Rolf Beilharz, D. D. (2026). Breeding Better Livestock : Its More Than Genes. Retrieved from https://www.self.gutenberg.org/

Description
Associate Professor Rolf Beilharz was a key member of the Faculty of Agriculture, which is now known as the School of Agricultural, Food and Ecosystem Sciences. The inclusion of ecosystems in the name seems appropriate given Rolf’s insistence that deeper consideration of the environment is essential to understanding the expression of genes. The book is a concise presentation of his life’s scientific work in applied genetics, which reveals the enduring need to include environmental factors alongside any quantitative approaches to genetics. Rolf, whose obituary from the OAFS is featured here, was unable to complete a final draft of his book, a task that has now been completed for this publication by the Society of Old Agriculture Fellows.

Summary
The book outlines a major geneticist's life work of fitness. It critiques the overemphasis of quantitative genetics on heritability, directional dominance, gene interactions, inbreeding depression and heterosis. It observes that approach as producing the poor outcomes in reproduction and survival as a result of genetic interactions and inbreeding depression. These points are amplified to illustrate how some geneticists see the problem but, in looking only at genes, miss the big picture. Considering the animal as a whole provides a much more realistic understanding that resources are limiting for most animals including farmed livestock and that this results in trade-offs when selecting for a specific attribute. By properly understanding natural selection in wild as well as domestic animals, Darwin's original thesis is shown to remain true. The book aims to encourage geneticists and livestock breeders to broaden their focus to the whole animal, which then leads to understanding that natural selection, largely determined by the animal's environment, determines evolutionary outcomes. The applications extend beyond genetics and breeding to science-based animal welfare.

Table of Contents
Contents Rolf G. Beilharz iv Author’s Preface vii Author’s Acknowledgements ix Foreword to the 2026 Publication xi Chapter 1 1 Genetic Puzzles in Modern Agriculture Chapter 2 10 Evolution by Natural Selection: Darwin’s Perspective Chapter 3 14 Genetics—The Mechanism of Heredity: Mendel’s Discovery of Inheritance Chapter 4 20 The Geneticists’ Blind Spot Chapter 5 27 Can Farmers Improve Their Livestock’s Genetic Fitness? Chapter 6 38 A New Look at Natural Selection: The Resource Allocation Paradigm Chapter 7 53 Darwin’s Theory Withstands Challenges Chapter 8 60 Incorporating Natural Selection into Quantitative Genetics Chapter 9 72 Genes, Phenotypes and the Environment Breeding Better Livestock—Beilharz v Chapter 10 79 Evolution in a Resource-Rich Environment Chapter 11 87 Natural Selection Acts on Life History Genes from Zygote to the Next Generation Chapter 12 107 Life History Differences between the Sexes Chapter 13 117 Animal Behaviour and Welfare Chapter 14 125 Back to Darwin References 138