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BACKGROUND Grazed grass is an important component of the majority of beef production systems used in temperate climates. Compared to concentrate‐fed beef, ‘grass‐fed’ beef can command a premium in some markets based on perceived differences in appearance and sensory characteristics. The influence of grazed grass per se, as well as the duration of grazing, on selected sensory characteristics of beef within a heifer production system was examined. RESULTS In general, fat from grass‐fed cattle was more yellow than fat from similar cattle fed concentrates, whereas muscle from grass‐fed cattle was darker than muscle from cattle fed concentrates. At the same carcass weight, muscle from grass‐fed cattle had a lower fat concentration than cattle fed concentrates. In the most extreme situation examined, whereby early‐maturing heifers were fed concentrates ad libitum from weaning or grazed grass/conserved grass throughout life, until slaughtered at a similar carcass weight (260 kg) and differed in age by 5 months, beef was rated similarly for tenderness and a range of flavours by a trained sensory panel. CONCLUSION Within the range of beef heifer production systems examined, the sensory characteristics of grass‐fed beef do not differ greatly from concentrate‐fed beef. © 2021 The Authors. Journal of The Science of Food and Agriculture published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of Society of Chemical Industry.

The proximate composition, organoleptic quality, metabolic enzyme activity and fibre characteristics of longissimus thoracis muscle from suckler bulls assigned to three target indoor winter (from 9 to 13 months of age approximately) growth rates (average daily gain of 0.6, 1.0 and 1.5 kg; n = 14/group) were investigated. The feeding regimes to achieve the target average daily gains were 2, 4 and 6 kg of concentrate respectively, plus grass silage ad libitum. The duration of the winter feeding period was 123 days, after which bulls were turned out to pasture and grazed for 99 days before re-housing and finishing on concentrates ad libitum plus grass silage until they reached a liveweight to yield a target carcass weight of 380 kg. The average daily gain during the grazing period was higher (P < 0.001) for the 0.6 than for the 1.0 and 1.5 average daily-gain groups, which did not differ. Proximate composition, collagen content, metabolic enzyme activity and fibre-type distribution of the longissimus thoracis muscle were similar (P > 0.05) between the 0.6, 1.0 and 1.5 average daily-gain groups. Apart from tenderness, which was rated higher (P < 0.05) for the 0.6 group than for the 1.0 average daily-gain group, the sensory characteristics of the beef were not influenced by the different winter growth rates applied. Overall, restricting the growth rate during winter had little effect on subsequent beef appearance or eating quality.