Interpretive Summary: Factors contributing to differences in stress resilience and growth performance between Bos taurus and Bos indicus cattle

By: Lillian L Okamoto, Zachary C Crump, Kara J Thornton

Implications

• Understanding genetic differences between Bos taurus and Bos indicus cattle that have allowed each subspecies to become better adapted to their environments can enable targeted breeding strategies to enhance genetic potential, while improving animal growth and production sustainability.
• Bos indicus cattle have superior thermoregulatory and heat tolerance capacities compared to Bos taurus cattle due to physiological and metabolic adaptations.
• Bos indicus cattle have reduced maintenance energy needs, decreased voluntary intakes, and are better able to handle nutritional and hydrational stress, but research reports are conflicting when considering feed efficiency and animal growth.
• Bos indicus cattle have a stronger antipredatory response and exhibit heightened stress-related physiological responses that make them more reactive to restraint, weaning, transport, and other human handling practices, which have substantial effects on animal welfare and growth.

Introduction

As the world population is projected to increase to 9.15 billion by 2050, demand for agricultural products is expected to increase 60% (Alexandratos and Bruinsma, 2012). Current cattle production practices will not meet increasing demand. The U.S. primarily produces Bos taurus cattle and ranks first in beef exports worldwide, accounting for 20% of the world supply (Colditz and Hine, 2016; Scheffler, 2022; USDA, 2024). Brazil primarily produces Bos indicus cattle and is the number two beef producer, supplying 18% of the world’s beef. (USDA, 2025). Exports from Brazil are expected to reach 23% by 2028, providing nearly 2.9 million metric tons of beef annually (Erik O’Donoghue, 2019; USDA, 2019, 2025). This increase in beef production by Brazil is anticipated due to increasing animal numbers, and selecting cattle that have improved performance in tropical climates, such as Bos indicus cattle (Thrift and Thrift, 2003; Scheffler, 2022; USDA, 2024).

Read the full article in Animal Frontiers, Factors Affecting Animal Growth.