Genetic selection for performance and carcass quality in the UK beef cattle and sheep industries has resulted in a rate of return on investment of 32%.
Take Home Message: Finishing beef animals on grass improves the shelf life of the meat.
Meat from grazed cattle had an improved colour and lipid stability than that from concentrate-fed cattle due, to a higher deposition of vitamin E.
Just one of the findings of a study carried out by scientists to determine the influence of a [...]
Take Home Message: Estimated breeding values for calving interval are not influenced by management decisions on when to re-breed.
Any bias against early maturing British Limousin heifers from management decisions on when to re-breed did not adversely affect the calving interval estimated breeding values (EBVs).
That’s what a team of scientists at the Scottish Agricultural College found [...]
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 [...]
Take Home Message: CT scanning accurately predicts carcass quality in beef joints. This information can be used in breeding programs or for industry benchmarking
CT scanning allows fast and accurate assessment of beef carcass composition with lower costs than physical dissection – the traditional method – and without damaging or devaluing the carcass.
“And this information is [...]
Take Home Message: On-farm digital image analysis can be used to accurately predict animal liveweight, fat class and conformation therefore improving selection for slaughter.
Live animal digital image analysis systems are feasible under common on-farm management conditions and can be used to predict some important slaughter characteristics.
“But further studies are required to extend the digital image [...]
Take Home Message:
- Feeding urea treated wheat to finishing steers compared to crimping or rolling will increase forage intake but reduce food conversion and carcass gain
- Increasing silage quality from approx. 10.7 to 11.7 MJ/kg DM can save approx. 3kg/head/day of feed wheat.
Treating grain with urea decreases beef carcass gain due to increased grain egestion [...]
Take Home Message: Agricultural green house gas emissions can be reduced by 5% by altering management, particularly by the wider use of genetic improvement in the beef and dairy industries.
There are a range of cost-effective options – either nil or low cost – for the UK livestock sector that will abate greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. [...]
Take Home Message: The inclusion of 2% fish oil in the diet of steers will reduce methane output by approximately 25%, but will also reduce intake by 10%.
Feeding fish oil to beef steers can reduce the amount of methane they produce – good news for the environment. But not so good, however, is an [...]
Take Home Message: Focus on improving nutrition and heat detection in dairy and beef herds as these account for 60% of the failure in reproductive performance.
Good reproductive performance can be achieved in both dairy and beef herds, even where herd size and production levels have been increased, with the nutritional management, heat detection levels and [...]
