Rearing practices in each life period of beef heifers can be used to influence the carcass characteristics

Abstract

To improve their income, European cattle breeders have to produce cattle carcasses with the best score on the EUROP system. The objectives of this study were to identify the rearing practices applied on farms at each period of a heifer's life and to study the relationship between these practices and the carcass characteristics. Farm surveys (n ¼ 45) were performed to assess the rearing practices. A factorial analysis of mixed data followed by a hierarchical clustering on principal components was performed for each life period. The clusters resulting from these typologies were related to the carcass characteristics (weight, conformation and fat scores). For the suckling period, the cluster characterised by a calving season in autumn, a short pasture period and systematic supplies of stored grass and concentrate in stall gave heavy carcasses with the highest conformation scores. For the growth period, the best cluster for producing favourable carcass characteristics was characterised by the longest pasture period, feeding the most stored grass and feeding a regular concentrate supply throughout the year. For the fattening period, the cluster characterised by the oldest age at the beginning of the period and at slaughter, slaughter in winter and autumn, a long pasture period and regular concentrate supply gave the heaviest carcasses with the highest conformation scores. This study highlights several rearing practices that could be used as a means to influence the carcass characteristics, and also the life periods at which animals are sensitive to changes in management practices to improve weight and conformation scores. HIGHLIGHTSCarcass characteristics are related to rearing practices applied at each life period of heifers. Rearing practices can be used as a means to influence carcass characteristics. ARTICLE HISTORY

Influence of Farm Management for Calves on Growth Performance and Meat Quality Traits Duration Fattening of Simmental Bulls and Heifers

“…No differences were found in the content of protein among meat samples from two groups. As expected, the protein content was in agreement with some earlier investigations [39,43].…”

“…Group, gender, and their interaction did not significantly affect the dressing and conformation traits evaluation ( p > 0.27). Kaminiecki et al [40] found that Simmental × Charolais crossbreeds produced a dressing percentage of 58.5% while [43] reported that carcass dressing percentage was higher in heavier animals, which could result from higher carcass fatness. Both studies were in accordance with our results.…”

Identification of key rearing factors to manage cattle carcass fatness and conformation scores during the fattening period

“…We showed that it was the combination of many rearing factors which impacts the carcass conformation score. That is in accordance with the results of recent studies observing the effect of rearing practices on carcass traits (Soulat et al 2018a;Monteils and Sibra 2019). Moreover, the prediction model developed showed that it could be possible to improve the carcass conformation score from different rearing factors during the fattening period.…”

Effect of the Rearing Managements Applied during Heifers’ Whole Life on Quality Traits of Five Muscles of the Beef Rib

“…After beef carcass cuts, the wholesale cuts purchased by consumers could be composed of different muscles, e.g., ribs and short ribs of beef. It is well known that meat quality traits can be impacted by different factors, e.g., animal type (sex and breed) [4,5,6], stress (transport, slaughter condition) [7,8,9] and rearing managements [10,11,12]. Many studies showed that different rearing factors observed during the fattening period (e.g., slaughter age [6,13], fattening duration [14,15], and fattening diet [16,17,18]) had an effect on meat quality traits.…”

“…Many studies showed that different rearing factors observed during the fattening period (e.g., slaughter age [6,13], fattening duration [14,15], and fattening diet [16,17,18]) had an effect on meat quality traits. Recent studies have shown that the rearing management (combining different rearing factors) applied during the animal’s whole life period (i.e., from birth to slaughter, whole life period (WLP)) could have an impact on the carcass and/or meat traits [10,11,12]. These recent studies had observed the effect of the WLP rearing managements on the flank steak (rectus abdominis muscle, RA) [10,11].…”