KNOXVILLE (AP) — Researchers at the University of Tennessee Institute of Agriculture have landed a $156,000 grant to look into opportunities to market cattle using genetic information.

The money from the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Agricultural Marketing Service will fuel the study at the seedstock, cow-calf and stocker producer stages of the beef supply chain, the institute said in a news release. The research aims to provide cattle producers information to help make decisions on characteristics that could be valuable to breed naturally in calves.

Connecting what producers value in genetic information can help improve market efficiency, cattle sustainability and possibly impact profitability, the institute said.