Evaluation of British Friesian, Canadian Holstein and beef breed × British Friesian steers slaughtered over a commercial range of fatness from 16-month and 24-month beef production systems 2. Carcass characteristics, and rate and efficiency of lean gain

Abstract

Link to this article: http://journals.cambridge.org/abstract_S0003356100018973How to cite this article: A. J. Kempster, G. L. Cook and J. R. Southgate (1988). Evaluation of British Friesian, Canadian Holstein and beef breed × British Friesian steers slaughtered over a commercial range of fatness from 16-month and 24month beef production systems 2. Carcass characteristics, and rate and efciency of lean gain. Animal Production, 46, pp 365-378 ABSTRACT Carcass characteristics, and the rate and efficiency of lean gain of purebred British Friesian and Canadian Holstein steers and of crossbred steers out of British Friesian dams by Charolais, Hereford, Limousin, Lincoln Red, Simmental, South Devon and Sussex sires were examined in two beef production systems. One was similar to the commercial 18-month grass/cereal system (16-month) and the other to a commercial 2-year system (24-month). The cattle were serially slaughtered at three pre-determined fatness levels, estimated by the Scanogram ultrasonic machine. The trial extended over 4 years and involved a total of 650 cattle, 398 of which had their left sides separated into tissues. Breeds were compared at equal carcass subcutaneous fat proportion determined by visual carcass assessment (SF e ). Data for the two production systems were analysed separately.Sire breed differences were not detected in the regression on SF e for most characteristics (P > 0-05). Sire breeds differed in killing out and visual conformation score in both production systems (P < 0-001): Charolais and Limousin crosses had the highest values and purebred Canadian Holsteins the lowest. The overall range between sire breeds was 30 g carcass weight per kg live weight and five points on a 15-point conformation scale.Breeds with the higher conformation scores generally had higher carcass lean proportions and higher lean : bone ratios. Canadian Holsteins had a 20 g/kg lower carcass lean proportion than the British Friesians (P < 0-05).Breed crosses with larger adult body size tended to have higher lean tissue growth rates: the difference between mean values for Charolais crosses and Hereford crosses was 49 g/day (16-month) and 38 g/day (24-month). The lean tissue growth rates of the British Friesians and especially the Canadian Holsteins were low in relation to their adult body size.Limousin and Charolais crosses had the highest efficiency of lean gain (g lean per kg digestible organic matter intake). These and the other crosses were significantly more efficient than the purebred Canadian Holsteins (P < 0-05). The overall range between breeds was 20 g/kg.

A comparison of the growth and carcass traits between dairy and dairy × beef breed crossbred heifers reared for beef production

“…Also Andersen et al (1977) found that Limousin cross young bulls from dairy cows had lower daily liveweight gains than and similar daily carcass gains as Danish Red and White young bulls. Southgate et al (1988) reported similar live growth rates for Friesian, Friesian × Hf and Friesian × Li steers in a 16-month beef system but in a 24-month system the Limousin crosses were superior.…”

“…Other studies have also shown that the late maturing breed type cattle have higher proportions of high value joints than early maturing breed crosses or pure dairy breeds (Keane et al, 1989Keane and More O'Ferrall, 1992). The higher lean and lower fat contents in the carcasses of the Friesian × Li than in Friesian cattle have reported Kempster et al (1988), Keane et al (1989) and Steen and Kilpatrick (1995). Furthermore, Forrest (1981) observed that the crossbred Holstein × Li steers had more lean and less fat than the purebred Holstein-Friesian steers, and similar results were reported also by Kempster et al (1976) for fat and Kempster and Jones (1971) for lean when comparing purebred Friesian and Friesian × Limousin crossbreds.…”

Beef production potential of Norwegian Red and Holstein-Friesian bulls slaughtered at two ages

“…However, carcass conformation was significantly higher with the NOR compared with HF bulls. The latter observation is of major commercial importance as conformation is correlated with muscle size and distribution (Kempster et al, 1988) and suggests that carcasses of NOR bulls would yield a greater mass of lean meat per unit of carcass weight than HF bulls slaughtered at a comparable age. Furthermore, the higher carcass conformation score recorded with NOR compared with HF bulls is in line with previous studies which have reported higher carcass conformation scores with animals containing a proportion of beef genes compared with those bred solely for dairy characteristics (Kempster et al, 1988;Keane et al, 2001).…”

“…This observation probably reflects the reduction in lean growth potential due to the increased stage of maturity of the bulls with increasing slaughter age as discussed previously. Nevertheless, the increased fat deposition at the higher slaughter age would have been expected to produce some improvement in carcass conformation, given that conformation is a visual assessment of the thickness of both muscle and fat in relation to the size of the skeleton (Kempster et al, 1988).…”

Liveweight gain and carcass characteristics of bulls and steers farmed on hill country

“…The slightly higher dressing-out percentage for bulls relative to steers has been reported in some previous studies (Geay 1978) but not in others (Hedrick et al 1969;Purchas 1990). Lower dressing-out percentages for Friesian cattle relative to their crosses with beef breeds have been reported elsewhere (Hight et al 1973;Holmes 1976;Kempster et al 1982Kempster et al , 1988Keane et al 1990;Purchas & Aungsupakorn 1993). For the MLC studies (Kempsteretal.…”