North Central Regional Publication Traditional crop and livestock breeding programs Crop and livestock breeding programs have been responsible for remarkable advances in agricultural productivity. Eye color and body fat are examples of phenotypic traits in animals. Seed size and leaf color are two phenotypic traits found in plants.
Some traits are more important to producers than others.
High protein corn or leaner livestock may earn the producer more money on the market, depending on consumer demand. Other traits such as stalk strength or pest resistance make a crop easier to grow and ensure a better yield. Most of these production traits in crops and livestock ultimately depend on the information contained in the DNA of these organisms. Skilled geneticists track such phenotypic features as oil composition in soybeans, fat content in livestock, growth rate in corn, or milk production in dairy cattle to determine individuals whose offspring are likely to be improved for these traits. Techniques to analyze DNA, developed within the last twenty years, are enabling breeders to locate specific DNA chromosome regions that correspond to particular production traits.