Data reveals that genetic selection has a key role to play in improving carcass quality
Take Home Message: Genetic selection for carcass quality traits in beef animals can be improved by using carcass data collected at the abattoir.
Improving beef carcass quality traits through genetic selection is possible, according to the results of a recent study carried out by researchers at the Scottish Agricultural College (SAC).
“The data we gathered gave a strong indication of the existence of genetic variation in carcass traits of UK beef animals,” SAC’s Mike Coffey told delegates at this year’s British Society of Animal Science annual conference.
“So the development of routine EBVs for carcass traits will be enhanced with increased capture of accurate abattoir carcass data and more detailed analysis of the genetic parameters,” he added.
Genetic improvement of British beef cattle over a 10-year period was recently estimated to be worth approximately £23. And, while these returns are impressive, they could be improved by increasing the rate of improvement in the purebred population. Increasing the relevance of estimated breeding values (EBVs) to beef production, for example, by using final carcass weight and grading information would help speed up the rate of gain.
“With this aim, our study set out to examine the feasibility of using carcass weights and classifications from UK commercial abattoirs for the genetic evaluation of cattle for carcass weight, carcass fatness class, and carcass conformation class,” said Dr Coffey, outlining the thinking behind his team’s work.
Data from Dovecote Park, which supplies beef to Waitrose supermarket chain, was used.
Extensive data is recorded on the animals after slaughter and carcasses were classified at the abattoir using the EU beef classification scheme for conformation (EUROP) and fat class (1-5).
The carcass traits analysed in this study included carcass weight (CWT, kg), adjusted carcass conformation score (CCON), and adjusted carcass fat score (CFAT), the latter two adjusted to a 15-point scale.
The identity of the animal was linked to a sire via British Cattle Movement Survey data and a final dataset of 14,923 records pertaining to 1,449 sires was analysed.
The results indicated that there is considerable genetic variation among sires for the studied traits.
summary (pdf) presentation (pdf)
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