Complexity of animal breeding choice making

Area of Science:

• Animal Science
• Genetics
• Agricultural Economics

Background:

• Advances in breeding, genetics, and data recording have increased the complexity of animal selection.
• This complexity can overwhelm farmers, hindering genetic progress in livestock industries.

Purpose of the Study:

• To review decision-making theories and apply them to animal breeding complexity.
• To analyze how farmers and the industry currently manage complex breeding choices.
• To identify research areas for understanding the impact of complexity on farmer decisions.

Main Methods:

• Literature review of complex decision-making principles.
• Contextualization of findings to animal breeding practices.
• Analysis of current industry and farmer strategies for managing complexity.

Main Results:

• Complex breeding choices likely lead farmers to use simplifying strategies (heuristics).
• Ineffective heuristics can result in suboptimal selection decisions and reduced genetic gain.
• Survey experiments on farmer behavior may be compromised by choice task complexity.

Conclusions:

• Understanding farmer heuristics is crucial for effective animal breeding support.
• Current industry assistance strategies need better quantification of their effectiveness.
• Further research is needed to disentangle the precise effects of complexity on farmer decisions and genetic progress.